


Halfway to Halloween

by Kahazel



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Genre: M/M, Soriku - Freeform, Vampire AU, a dash of blood allergies, a sprinkle of social anxiety, jack skellington being an absolute menace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26799769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kahazel/pseuds/Kahazel
Summary: Sora isn't exactly the scariest resident in Halloween Town. He can't fly, can't transform into a bat, and his hissing is passable to say the least, but maybe a new friend can change that! Meanwhile Jack has some plans of his own to "help" Sora and Riku with a different problem entirely.---After a few more minutes of childish pouting, he finally dropped his arms and turned around but stumbled back in surprise when he bumped into someone standing silently right behind him. A young man with a familiar trim of yellow fur on the shoulder of his cloak, clawed bright green hands and a mask covering one eye similar to his own, but with pink and yellow facial markings, all reminiscent of one unique fluffy bat.“U-uhh…” Sora garbled intelligently as the stranger approached him.“Still not scary?” The stranger asked- the flash of a white fang, rise of a single silver eyebrow and challenging lilt to his voice all seemed to dare Sora to say no.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I finally finished after working on this for ages about a month ago but since it was ALMOST Halloween may as well wait for the spoopy month! So here it is!!
> 
> Also here are some doodles I did a year ago before finally committing to the story:  
> https://twitter.com/kahazel_/status/1184884744875663360?s=20  
> https://twitter.com/kahazel_/status/1187419838320381952?s=20  
> (old art, welp!)

The vampire's mansion was large and cluttered with a wide range of eclectic junk- most of which were broken or damaged from time or neglect. Faded rugs and moth eaten tapestries, a grand piano that was definitely out of tune was used more as a table for dozens of little candles. The wallpaper curled up in little rings as it tore away from the walls. It was messy, but trinkets tend to be collected over long centuries.

A grandfather clock’s tolls bounced off the walls, filling the mansion with the eerie song of it’s haunting bells. After the seventh toll, the smallest coffin opened up with a groan from both the rusty hinges and the sleepy vampire stirring inside.

Sora stepped out of his coffin, standing up and stretching wiry limbs, fangs on full display as he yawned loudly. He gave his wings a little flap to get the feeling back in them and placed his hands on his hips, leaning backwards as his spine popped from the extension. He had to get a comfier coffin soon before his back had a permanent hunch like Behemoth. Maybe he could borrow a spare sarcophagus from the Mummy. On second thought, the idea of sleeping somewhere that reeked of old bandages made him scrunch his nose.

Looking around the room he saw the other four coffins already open, their owners seemingly long gone.

“Aww stakes and crosses, they left without me!!”

He raced to go outside. Using his full body weight the large double door opened with a couple tugs backwards before he squeezed through and ran down the steps so fast he hopped the last three. Luckily the other vampires just barely made it to the gate by the time he caught up. The tallest, skinniest vampire’s face pinched tight at his arrival and muttered something Sora couldn’t hear but sounded irritated from the tone of it.

“Hey guys! I almost missed you, again. But I woke up on time so maybe you just got up early on accident.”

The short, portly Vampire Baron shifted his weight looking awkward. His tired eyes flicked over to the gate longingly before returning to Sora as the young vampire continued his babble.

“So where are we going tonight? Are we going to try and spook some people again, because I’ve been working on my hiss and I think it’s better! More throat, less spit. Did you feed already or should we get something to eat along the way?”

“Sora,” the Vampire Prince interrupted, heavy transylvanian accent in his shrill voice producing the younger’s name with a hard sounding r, “perhaps it vould be best iv you stayed behind for the scaring. Maybe go play vith your horrible little friends, the trick or treaters.”

Sora may have attempted to be friends with Lock Shock and Barrel once, but that only resulted in them tying him up and pelting him with strange colorful eggs that exploded into annoying glitter when they hit him. Where they acquired them he had no idea because nothing in Halloween Town laid eggs like that, and nobody wanted to be caught dead or alive covered in strawberry smelling rainbow glitter that took days to wash off.

“They are not my friends. Two nights ago you,” he pointed an accusatory claw at the Count, “called them plagues to the town and you,” he pointed to the Baron, “said you wouldn’t go near them even if they were the last source of blood. Besides, I’m not a kid anymore! I don’t want to wait behind while you go off scaring, can’t I come with you guys?”

The Vampire Lord ceased tapping his foot and spoke up. “Let’s bite straight into the vein, Sora. You’re not scary.” Everyone looked at the Lord with mixed levels of surprise except for Sora, who looked hurt more than anything. “Don’t look at me like that, you’re not. And somevone had to tell you.”

Sora felt like he just stumbled onto some big secret everyone was well aware of and never expected him to be clued in on—a punchline revealed before the joke. He looked from the Lord, to the Count, to the Baron and finally to the Prince, waiting for someone to defend him, but no one spoke up to counter the claim. They all seemed to agree and look at him with exasperated or pitying eyes.

“That’s not true! I, I’m plenty scary!”

“You can’t turn into a bat or fly. Skills even newly turned vampires easily perform.” The Count spoke crossly, folding his arms and looking away.

“And last ve found you vith the human children you vere-” The Baron gasped behind his hand as the words got stuck in his throat from sheer revulsion at having to say them. “making them….”

“Laugh! You vere being nice and making them laugh.” The Lord finished, making the other three shudder. “From Europe to Asia, the vampire is vone of the oldest most noble monsters! Ve do not make the children laugh. Ve make them cry and hide with terror. Ve take pride in our tradition and revel in the gruesome tales of our history. I can not associate myself any longer vith a vampire who lacks the basic qualities ov their species.”

“Now Lord! Really.” The Vampire Prince scolded, but it was too late. The truth was out and the others were making no efforts to argue the points. A tense air settled around them, thick and soupy like the Undersea Gal’s lake.

Sora hung his head, shoulders hunched and wings droopy. Even his mask which normally sported a crazed smile looked dejected. So what if he accidentally made some kid laugh instead of scared? It wasn’t his fault the child had a good sense of humor- making friends came naturally to him. Most of the residents in Halloween Town liked him just fine; the Corpse Family always happily greeted him, the Wolfman gave him growling tips when he asked, and Jack, their very own Pumpkin King was always over eager to see him, all high energy and new ideas for a prank or a scare bursting from his bones. Sora was an odd one everyone agreed, but no one really turned him away—except for his own kind it would seem.

“It’s fine.” He squared his shoulders and looked up, rubbing a clawed finger under his nose to hide a crinkly smile that was as paper thin as he felt. “I had some other plans and, I didn’t want to go scaring tonight anyway.”

The gate swung open for him with a high pitched squeak as he ran past the older vampires to get away before another word was spoken. Part of him hoped that they would call after him, bring him back and accept him despite his flaws. But the other part crushed the frail hope with dreaded fear that they wouldn’t, that they would let him run away like a wounded animal, and that thought was a scary monster he didn’t want to contend with on top of everything else.

He carried his broken pride all the way to the moonlit hill and clambered through a secret passage inside a mausoleum to a more secluded section, the boneyard. This section of the graveyard seemed forgotten and particularly out of repair from so many years of neglect- the headstones were so old and weather beaten the names on them weren’t decipherable, and the ground was a patchwork of dead grass and broken up cobblestone made bumpy by a spider web of tree roots forcing themselves through the earth. Sora plopped himself down against the base of a dead tree, sitting and blinking slowly for a few minutes while the interaction replayed in his brain a few times.

“So what if I’m not pale, and can’t turn into a bat or fly...” he glanced over his shoulder woefully, flapped his wings a couple of times, “I have fangs and drink blood like them, and I can glide pretty okay if I’m high enough. I’m still a vampire! I can’t believe they think I’m not scary.”

Scooping some pebbles from the ground he tossed them one by one at the headstones. Each time a pebble bounced off a stone a ghost flew out of its grave, moaning in different pitches depending on which headstone was hit. Usually it entertained him, a secret little musical game he could play, inventing songs with his spooky choir, but right now the humor was lost in his anger and the pebbles kept hitting with increased force and frequency making the ghost’s wails come out rushed and off key.

The last pebble Sora tossed hit an odd corner of a headstone with enough force to sail right back into the branches of the tree he sat against. He jumped to his feet when he heard a startled squeep!! and looked into the twist of dark leafless branches spotting a weird yellow ball hanging upside down, blinking an annoyed eye at him from beneath its wings. Sora brought his hands up to his face, fingers coming together in front of his nose as he let out a guilty “oops.”

“Hey uhh, sorry about that, I didn’t know you were there.”

The creature let out an annoyed huff, dismissing him before covering itself with its wings to return to sleep.

Sora observed the fluffy yellow fur, pink wings with diamond patterns in them, and long green ears that looked soft to the touch. This fluffy bat was an odd hodgepodge of color and gradients that was pretty rare around Halloween Town, where colors were usually dull and faded. Even the Clown’s outfit with his purple polka dots and red and yellow stripes were muted.

“You’re not particularly scary looking, are you?” He spoke without thinking.

The bat lowered its wing once more, leveling Sora with a ‘oh you’re one to talk’ look.

Sora turned from it, crossing his arms defensively. “Look, I’ve had a really rough night- I guess that came out kinda wrong. But you’d be upset too if your own kind turned you away because you don’t meet their stupid scariness standards. At least you’re just a bat, you don’t have to worry about that kind of stuff.”

Sora heard the faintest sound of fluttering wings but stayed stiff, back rigid and pridefully turned away with his nose pointing to the moon. He figured the bat flew off to some quieter location to rest. Which was good. This was his secret place, just him and the ghosts he tormented when he was bored or troubled, and he didn’t need an audience for his tantrum.

After a few more minutes of childish pouting, he finally dropped his arms and turned around but stumbled back in surprise when he bumped into someone standing silently right behind him. A young man with a familiar trim of yellow fur on the shoulder of his cloak, clawed bright green hands and a mask covering one eye similar to his own, but with pink and yellow facial markings, all reminiscent of one unique fluffy bat.

“U-uhh…” Sora garbled intelligently as the stranger approached him. 

“Still not scary?” The stranger asked- the flash of a white fang, rise of a single silver eyebrow and challenging lilt to his voice all seemed to dare Sora to say no.

Sora certainly felt something. A fluttering in his chest as if dozens of bats were set loose and frantically fluttering around trying to find a way to escape. He never felt this kind of feeling before and he wasn’t quite sure how to identify it. It wasn’t quite happiness, and it wasn’t quite confusion- it wasn’t excitement or anxiousness… but almost a combination of all of them. Not knowing what to do he simply shook it away in an attempt to regain his bearings. “You’re also a vampire, too?”

“Of a sort.” The other responded arily, sounding as if he was trying to decide whether Sora was worth his time or not.

The silence carried on and from what Sora could see of the crossed armed posture and tight lipped frown the other wore, he was losing the battle of interest. A thought hit Sora like an electric jolt- he basically said to this new vampire what the other vampires said to him not an hour or two ago. Bat or not, he carelessly tossed the same hurtful words at someone else and shame washed over him like an icy bath with this realization. When the new vampire finally seemed to dismiss him and turned to leave, Sora took a hasty step forward and placed a hand on his shoulder halting his transformation and exit.

“W-wait, hold on!” Sora let go quickly when he saw a green eye narrow at his grip. He held up his hands in submission and took a step back respectfully. “I really didn’t mean to say you weren’t scary when you were a bat... I didn’t know you were a vampire! But, vampire or not, it was still wrong. And I basically just did the same thing to you that made me come here in the first place. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

The new vampire sighed and adjusted his ruffled cloak. He turned back to Sora, arms returning to their firm crossed position between them.“Relax, I know what you meant. You were having a bad night, it happens.”

Sora felt himself calm down at the words, relieved his apology didn’t necessarily fall on deaf ears.

“Yeah well, still, maybe we can start over?” He asked hopefully, “I’m Sora, what’s your name?”

“Riku.” He murmured softly.

Sora took a step forward, eye squinting into a happy crescent as he grinned. “Nice to meetcha Riku! How come I’ve never seen you around town? Or with the other vampires for that matter?”

Riku noticed a couple of ghosts peeking out of their graves, curious about all the noise they were hearing. One let out a curious “whoo?” wondering if Sora wanted to play some more but the young vampire didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m a dream eating kind of vampire, so, I guess we don’t interact much since I have to go to the human world a lot to feed off their nightmares.” Riku answered stiffly. The sincere interest he was receiving wasn’t something he was used to—perhaps it was the wide brown eye twinkling from the shadows of Sora’s hair, or maybe it was the grin that was a little lopsided due to his fangs being slightly too large for his mouth, but whatever it was, it ruining his cool and aloof facade.

“You don’t drink blood?” Sora asked.

Riku shook his head, mouth pulled down in a grimace.

“Really. Any kind of blood?” Sora inquired persistently. “O? B? AB negative?”

Riku again scrunched his nose in distaste at the thought, “No.”

“What about animal blood? Chickens? Cows? Goats?”

“I think those qualify as any kind.” He stressed.

“Gotcha.” Sora rubbed the back of his head, feeling abashed by Riku’s drawn out tone. “So what are nightmares like?” He asked anyway.

Riku hmmed, trying to think of the best way to describe it. “They’re warm, but cold. And bitter but can be tangy. I never really thought about it, but I guess it really depends on the nightmare.” He concluded.

Sora nodded, eager for more information.

“Kid nightmares are flavorful but not quite as filling.” Riku continued, “It’s easy finding a kid with a nightmare, I can usually pick out five or six in a night. Adults are a little more complicated. They’re not always obvious, and can sometimes be harder to extract, but they’re more filling when you find one. I’m usually set for a couple of weeks after finding an adult or two having a nightmare.”

Sora soaked in the information with fascination. He supposed if things like memory and surprise could be found and bottled as ingredients, something formless like nightmares could very well be a source of nourishment for someone else. Blood to him was just, blood. It was better when it was fresh but it all tasted the same in the end. If he wanted some variety he could manage to get a few bites of food or candy in. Vampires could usually have a little bit of food here and there, but it held no nutritional value and he had to keep it light before his stomach began to churn. Riku sure was lucky to have some variety in his normal diet.

“That’s so weird, but also super cool. Not anything like bl-” Sora caught sight of Riku’s cringe at what he dubbed in his mind as the b word, “what I eat. How do you find someone having a nightmare?”

“I follow my nose, just like y-”

_Ggrrrrruuummmmmmmmm_

All this talk about nightmares and food reminded Riku why he was in his bat form in the first place- it had been about a week since he last fed, and when he did his meal was light, two, maybe three childish nightmares at the most as his stomach graciously reminded him.

“Do you need to feed right now?” Sora asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Riku sighed and nodded, rubbing his temples a little. His eyebrows pinched as he felt a quieter quake from his insisting stomach.

“The closest human town is kinda far…..” The smaller vampire pointed out before gasping, eyes lighting up. He grabbed Riku by the wrist and strode towards the mausoleum with wide determined steps. “Come with me into town, I have an idea that’ll help!”

“What? Why?” Riku asked, stumbling a little at Sora’s tugs.

“Trust me, this’ll solve all your problems!”

They walked through the mausoleum, stepped around jack-o-lanterns strewn about the swirly hill and made their way into town. As soon as Riku’s feet hit the stony streets his steps became unsure and stiff. It had been a few weeks since he was officially in town, and he almost never came into the heavily populated areas like the city hall or the town square- even for festivals or celebrations. He kept his head down, looking anywhere but at the monsters and ghouls taking a nightly stroll or chatting with other nocturnal creatures enjoying the calm evening.

Feeling a quick squeeze to his wrist he looked up from the ground and followed the path of their hands, up an arm to a back, over narrow shoulders, skimming a pair of wings to a face smiling at him. “We’ll be quick.” Sora assured him with another squeeze.

They passed a fountain in the center of town where a couple of young monsters paused playing with the ooze to look up at them. Both children pulled their hands out of the fountain not bothering to shake off the glowing green ooze and hopped down to trail after the vampires.

“Hi Sora!” The Corpse Kid greeted as he wobbled on stubby little legs trying to keep up with their fast pace. A dog lead trailed behind him, he probably escaped from his mother while she was distracted again. “Where ya goin’?”

“To Dr. Finklestein’s place.” Sora answered quickly.

The Demon Kid trotted on his wings by Sora’s other side, sandwiching them in as they walked. “Dr. Finklestein? But he’s so grouchy and mean. He hit me on the head last time I asked to play on his chair you know. Let's go play a prank on the witches instead! We want to steal their brooms!” He said letting out a series of high pitched chuffs that Sora assumed was supposed to be an evil cackle.

As tempting as it was to see the small demon with his disproportionate body and his rotund friend try and balance on a pair of skinny brooms, Sora shook his head. Getting Riku to the doctor was his priority at the moment. “I can’t right now guys, I’m on an important mission- maybe later okay?”

“No, not later!” The little demon cried. “Later never comes. Let’s play right now!”

The Corpse Kid latched on to Sora’s leg with a tight embrace, hooking his hands and legs around Sora’s calf and ankle, “Yeah, right now!!” he demanded.

The two children shouted and whined, doing their very best to slow them down. Sora winced in pain as he struggled onward, now dragging his leg behind him as if it were made of lead. The Corpse Kid weighed a ton and his foot felt like it was going to fall off from so much pressure. Meanwhile the Winged Demon walked backwards in front of him, trying to bring them to a halt without getting stepped on. They chanted, _lets play_ and _not later, right now_ over and over until Sora finally stopped and let go of Riku’s wrist to cover his ears.

Riku looked increasingly uncomfortable through the ordeal. All the crying and whinging was drawing gazes towards them that felt heavier with each new person. He tilted his head down, tipping his fringe over his eyes like a curtain and fiddled with the collar of his cloak, straightening it so it would rise higher over the sides of his face.

_Ggrrrrruuummmmmmm_

Everyone halted at the sound of a growl. Sora stopped grinding his teeth and the children ceased their chanting to look up at Riku, who bore a look of mortification.

“I think this was a mistake…” He muttered before making a step to leave.

“Oh no. That fearsome growl, it can’t be, and not so soon...” Sora said, his deathly serious tone drawing everyone’s attention to him. He looked from Riku to the kids, then back again swallowing audibly and shifted his captured leg away just an inch. “Riku, is your hunger …… that unbearable? Are you going to eat another child?”

Riku blinked, not understanding what was going on. Each word from Sora’s lips seemed to be pulled out of him with great effort in an overly dramatic Shakespearean fashion. All he was missing was a spotlight and an instrumental accompaniment in the background to complete the theatrics, only a dunce to take him seriously.

“Eat a-”

“ _child??_ ”

Or naive two children.

“That’s right. He likes plump ones and annoying kids the best.” Sora knelt down and poked the belly of the Corpse Kid and the Winged Demon’s large forehead, whispering low in a haunting voice. “He says they taste delicious... and when he’s hungry, there’s no stopping him. Right?” Sora looked up from his kneeling position and beamed at Riku, breaking character.

Riku caught on to Sora’s antics, but stood stiffly, not quite sure where to go with it. He should probably deny the accusations before other monsters took Sora seriously. He should tell Sora off for dragging him around and making such ridiculous claims. He should turn right around, fly out of here and get on with finding something to eat on his own, leaving this whole experience behind.

“Now that you mention it, they do look tasty,” Riku agreed, trying to fall into the role.

Sora let out a quick gasp and jumped to his feet, shaking off the Corpse Kid whose grip loosened with nerves. He threw himself at Riku’s chest, hands flat against his pectorals as if he were bracing himself against an impending rampage. The impact did nothing to budge the taller vampire, which kind of irked Sora, but he carried on with the act, turning around and pressing his back against Riku so he could look at the kids with his arms splayed out to shield them from the threat.

“Quick!! I’ll hold him back, you run! Before he breaks free!”

The children took off in a tumble of squeals of terror, running past the fountain and turning a corner. Riku made an exhale that was probably a quick laugh while Sora smiled a lopsided smile and punched Riku on the shoulder.

“Nice one.”

“You too, you handled that well.” Riku pointed out simply.

Sora puffed out his chest a little and rubbed his nose, feeling quite pleased with the outcome. The kids would be fine, always used to playful scares and silly threats that held no weight. They weren’t hard to frighten but, with any luck, maybe the other vampires will catch wind about how he scared them and their opinion of him may sway a little... maybe they’ll let him come along to scare humans or other creatures of the night...

He swallowed down the sting in his throat and shook the thought out of his head before ruminating on hope for too long.

“Yeah, I guess so. They’re not the worst kids in town and’re fun to play with every once in a while. I don’t really mind helping out with pranks if I’ve got nothing better to do, they’re terrible at getting away with anything.”

Riku straightened his cloak, hiding a little smile in the collar. “Guess I should be flattered then.”

Without further incident they reached the lab, an imposing cylindrical brick structure with a metal dome perched on top that looked moments away from toppling over and bouncing down the steps. Sora walked up the path, a little bounce in his gait giving away his excitement, and knocked on the heavy metal door. Even the outside they could hear the echo of his knock bouncing off the walls. Sora swung his arms a little and Riku brushed imaginary dust off his shoulder as they waited in silence, neither knowing quite what to say.

The door stayed firmly shut which was odd. If the professor wasn’t available, usually Igor was prompt to answer and let visitors in to wait in the waiting room. Just as Sora raised his hand to knock again they heard the sound of locks being unbolted and chains being undone. When the door finally opened, Sora’s face morphed from excitement to befuddlement looking down at Mayor wearing a black apron with cobweb lace and stirring something green and gloopy in a mixing bowl.

“Oh Sora! So good to see you, come in dear boy!” Mayor greeted enthusiastically, his head spun around to an expression with a bright wide smile. He continued his stirring now at a slightly quicker pace as he ushered them inside. “You couldn’t have come at a better time. I just made a batch of spider cookies and I think I’ve finally gotten the recipe down, but I need someone to taste test them for me, you simply must try them and tell me what you think!”

“Thanks Mayor, but, I’m kinda in a rush right now. Do you know if the doctor’s in?”

Mayor shook his head, cheery smile never faltering. “I’m afraid not. Dr. Finklestien is on a small getaway with Jewel for their three year five week and eighth day anniversary. She wanted to go someplace exotic and you know how the doctor is, just can't say no to her. He’ll be gone for a while. I’m house sitting since Igor is off as well, visiting some relatives of his in the mountains.”

“Aww man,” Sora whined looking crushed. “I had some questions I really needed to ask him…”

“You could always ask the Mayor. I’m no longer an elected official, but I bet the new Mayor will be happy to talk to you about whatever's troubling you."

Riku pipped up at this new bit of information. “You’re not the mayor anymore, sir?”

“Nope.” Mayor said completely unbothered.

“His name’s Mayor too.” Sora informed behind a cupped hand, nodding.

“Mayor… Mayor? That's kinda...” Riku drawled, trying not to be rude.

“A little unconventional I know, but I’ve really enjoyed my time since I’ve stepped down from office! Running the town was such an arduous task- always something going wrong with an event or some fire to put out— it was hard to step down, but I think I did what was best for my nerves. I still get to make announcements in the mayormobile and host the town meetings which was my favorite part anyway! And since I’ve had time to myself, I’ve discovered a passion I didn’t know I had, baking! Just wait until you try my cinnamon bug buns, or my cobweb cupcakes, oh! I’ve got some jellied brain tartlets I’d love you to try!"

"Thanks Mayor, they all sound great, but we really have to go." Sora said.

Mayor's head flipped around, his skin sallow and a deep blue frown adorning his face. "You do? Oh… okay." He said disheartenedly, his mixing losing all enthusiasm. “Well, all the best with what you need to do I suppose…..”

Sora and Riku shared a guilty look over his head.

"Can we come back later?" Sora asked, trying his best to spare Mayor’s feelings. "Those cupcakes sound pretty good."

“Yeah, umm,” Riku agreed. Physical food with its chewing and textures was strange to him, and similar to blood drinking vampires, it held no nutritional value, but he figured he could manage a few bites if Sora could. “save me a tartlet?”

Mayor’s head swiveled around back to his smile instantly. “You got it boys!! I should be done with these cookies too by then; you’re more than welcome to try them!”

The vampires nodded, promised four more times to come back at Mayor’s insistence, and when he seemed appeased they were finally back on track.

Luckily the doctor’s home was close to the mayor’s office. Dr. Finklestein was frequently commissioned to help in the past with large events, bringing the wildest and zaniest ideas to fruition in his own mad scientist kind of way— and with his regular involvement but lack of mobility, it was just easier to live somewhat close to the main town. Riku was looking more tired by the minute though—Sora knew he was exerting himself too much, but for some reason he now followed without needing to be tugged or led by the hand.

“I promise, this’ll be the last stop." Sora assured. "The Mayor’ll know what to do for sure, I don’t know why we didn’t go there in the first place. It's actually a much better solution! And if that doesn’t work, I’ll take you to a human town myself and scare some so bad you’ll have all the nightmares you can eat.” He flexed his claws around his face and bared his fangs, trying to assure Riku he could be quite terrifying.

Riku’s lips gave another tug upward, one of his small smiles. “It’s alright,” he shrugged, “I’m actually kind of having fun.”

Sora’s steps faltered. He looked at Riku to see if there was any indication that he didn’t mean it, that he wasn’t saying that just to be nice, but there was no tightlipped smile or glances to a nearby exit. A few guilty chords around his chest snapped and it felt easier to breath.

“Heh, yeah, I’m having fun too.” He rubbed his nose, grinning beneath his hand.

They made their way into the town hall and beelined straight for the office. It only took two knocks before they heard a soft “come in” welcome them inside.

“Hello Sora.” Sally put her pen down and stood up from her desk. She quickly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and straightened her blouse a little while walking towards them with a gentle smile. “So nice to see you, is this your friend?”

Sally seemed to have undergone a transformation since becoming the new Mayor. Her long yarn-like hair was now cut short and styled to frame her face in a neat bob, bringing out her pretty dark eyes and long neck. The Mayor’s badge was pinned proudly to the breast of a smart blouse, which was tucked into a patchwork skirt. And when she spoke, her voice remained soft and airy, whisper-like at times, but with a happy confidence.

“Hi Mayor Sally! Yeah, this is Riku. Riku, Mayor Sally.”

Sally held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Riku said stiffly, dropping the Mayor’s petite hand after a quick shake and shoving his claws beneath his cape.

“So what brings you here on such a terrible evening?” She asked pleasantly.

Finally eager to get somewhere with his idea, Sora spoke quickly. “I was wondering, Riku is a dream eating vampire, so he feeds from nightmares instead of, other vampire alternatives. But going to human towns all the time is a pain, and it can’t be bought here like bl— umm, you know, my type of food. Is it possible to make nightmares, like how you make fog or illusions?”

“Hmm. Like, a nightmare tonic?” Sally suggested.

“Yes yes!! Exactly, a nightmare tonic!”

Sally thought for a moment. Though she never made a nightmare tonic before, her time with the doctor was well spent as she learned to brew all sorts of things—not only poisons and sleeping draughts but all manner of potions. Ingredients for the new concoction easily came to mind.

“I think I can do that. I don’t have anything here at the office, but if you don’t mind running around and grabbing the ingredients, I’m sure I can create a brew for Riku, umm, quickly.” she added seeing the tired look of the vampire.

“I can get the stuff right now! What do you need?” Sora said, wings giving a little enthusiastic flap.

“Lets see, fear, sleep, restlessness and some dread ought to do it. I’ll write you a list, just a moment.”

She walked over to her desk and sat down to jot some quick notes on what was needed and where to find them. While she was busy, Riku turned Sora by the elbow so the younger vampire was facing him and spoke privately.

“Ingredients? Sora, why are you doing this for me? Why are you going through so much trouble?” His question was voiced with curiosity rather than suspicion. Sora didn’t seem like the devious type, and definitely not someone who had the attention span for long term plotting, so, why was he doing all this for a stranger?

“‘Cause we’re friends.” Sora stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“We are?”

Sora linked his fingers behind his head and leaned to the side. “Yeah, ‘course! And with the tonic, you don’t have to travel so far often and could stick around more, you know, if you wanted to!”

The two were interrupted by Sally’s approach. She handed Sora a small piece of paper with her notes and some simple instructions scratched on it. With a few short words Sora shot off with a quick “ _Berightback!_ ” over his shoulder leaving Riku with Sally in her office.

Sally invited Riku to sit by her desk while he waited. She excused herself for just a few minutes, so Riku took the chance to observe his surroundings. Her desk was messy but in an orderly way. Documents were scattered around some signed some not, her handwriting was scratchy and almost illegible, which surprised Riku considering she was so dainty. He reached out to grab a picture frame holding a photo of Sally, Jack and Zero all close together. It was nice. Sally fit well in Jack’s arms, and Zero looked playful and happy. He placed the frame down with a clatter when he heard the door open. Sally entered now holding two cups of steaming tea and walking very carefully so they wouldn’t spill. She retained a hint of an unsure gait in her step, like she was still learning how to walk.

“It’s not much, but it’ll tide you over until Sora comes back.” She explained handing a cup over to Riku.

“I’m sorry to inconvenience you.”

Sally smiled. “It’s no inconvenience. Approving documents is rather boring, this is a nice little break actually. I’m used to Sora randomly coming by at odd hours.”

“He’s definitely different.”

“Hmmm.” Sally’s eyes crinkled affectionately as she sipped her tea. “Sora is a lot like my Jack,” she patted a grinning pumpkin pendant attached to a thin gold chain around her neck. It was a lovely necklace, and something highly treasured with the way she ran her fingers over the smooth orange surface and groves of its face, like it was dear to her heart. “energetic, impulsive and eager to drop what he’s doing to help someone in need. They do tend to get into trouble, especially when they’re around each other.” She chuckled remembering a few of their escapades she had to unravel and took another sip of tea. “But, they really draw you in don’t they?”

Riku didn’t answer right away, turning the warm cup in his hands and watching the bits of tea leaves on the surface remain still as he thought. “I’ve never met someone so willing to go out of their way for a stranger.” He answered honestly. It seemed easy to be honest around Sally.

“That’s just the way they are.” She said simply over the rim of her cup.

Maybe it was the blend of tea, or perhaps Mayor Sally added some kind of strange herb, but thinking about the fun he had tonight, Sora’s smiling face and all he was doing for him, filled his chest with a slow, heavy, sweet-as-honey feeling. He breathed in the tea’s smell as he drank and Sally was right, it chased away the hunger just a little.

“So, describe the kind of nightmares that are most filling. I’d like to get an idea for proportions of ingredients that would be best for you.”

Riku again described what nightmares were like, how they tasted and qualities that made them more filling while Sally listened with interest jotting down a few notes here and there. The tea was soothing, the atmosphere was peaceful, and as he continued the explanation his head began to bob and he gradually slumped in the chair. The hunger ebbed but the warmth of the tea made him drowsy and exhaustion crept in like a subtle fog.

\---

\-----------------

“Aww -----, he ----------- didn’t he.”

“Yes. But the t---- is ready, he should be just --ne.”

“That’s good. Guess -- should wake him up.”

“Sora…”

“He’s so soft! Mayor Sally come feel!”

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“Ohhh his ears are like velvet…”

Riku let out an annoyed squeep as he finally roused from sleep by the voices. He batted Sora’s hand away from him with his wing, grouchy from being woken up and a tad bit hangry at this point.

“Sorry sorry! I guess you turned back into a bat while you were asleep.” Sora backed off before Riku decided to bite him or something. He spun around and struck a pose, arms extended grandiosely towards Sally who held a corked deep violet glass bottle in her hands. “But look! Taa daa!! Mayor Sally made the nightmare tonic while you were napping!” He even wiggled his fingers excitedly in his gesture.

The news banished any remaining sleep Riku felt. He sat up straighter as Sally approached, and after she gave him a little nod she uncorked the bottle, tipping the opening towards him.

Sora piped up, eager to see what would happen. “So does he drink it now or—”

“Just watch.” Sally said mysteriously.

A murky cloud rose from the contents of the bottle, swirling with a mixture of dark blues, blacks and purples. It looked terrifying, like a formless monster emerging from the bottle, and utterly delicious. Riku felt his disposition switch as he kicked off the chair and flew into the cloud to consume the nightmare. He pulled the dark fumes towards him like a magnet, and as he absorbed the darkness, the cloud changed from dark and heavy to soft glittery pink, a sweet dream, before it dissipated harmlessly into the air since there was no one tethered to enjoy it.

Riku felt full. Fuller than he had in a while. It had the robustness of an adult’s nightmare with a hint of fantasy from a child, he was genuinely impressed Sally could make something so delicious with a handful of ingredients.

Sally corked the bottle looking very happy the tonic worked as well. He turned back into a vampire, alert and healthy looking, a far cry from the exhausted state he entered her office in. He opened his mouth to thank her but got the wind knocked out of him by Sora running into him for a quick hug from behind.

“It worked!! Riku, you look great!! So that’s how you feed, that’s so cool!” The smaller vampire said gleefully, letting go of Riku and taking Sally’s by hands, spinning her as he hopped in a circle singing her praises. “Mayor Sally you’re a genius!!”

Sally laughed bashfully as Sora spun with her, tucking a lock of hair that had fallen out of place once he let go.

“Thank you Mayor Sally. This helps me a lot, I really appreciate this.” Riku said as genuinely as he could. The tonic was just as good as the spookiest nightmare he’s ever had and it would fill him for at least three weeks. “It’s the best tasting nightmare I’ve had in a while, actually.” He held out his hand, shaking hers again but this time firmly with his lips pulled up in a small grateful smile.

“You’re very welcome, Riku.” Sally held out a little vial, tightly corked about the size of his palm. “There’s not enough in there for another meal, but definitely enough for a snack. If you bring me more ingredients I’ll make more tonic whenever you need. We can play around with ingredients too, add more things for different flavors.”

“Can I do anything to repay the favor?” Riku asked politely, safely pocketing the vial.

Sally hmmed, placing a finger to her lips for a second in thought. “Try to keep Sora out of trouble?”

“What? I haven’t caused trouble all night! Why, did Bertha call and say something?” Sora exclaimed looking at Sally who was playfully laughing behind her hand.

“I’m kidding, but I guess I’ll be expecting that phone call soon.” She said goodnaturedly. “And thank you Riku, if I can think of something I’ll let you know.” She lightly touched his shoulder before walking with them to her door. “I better get back to my paperwork,” she sighed, “the Halfway-to-Halloween Festival won’t plan itself.”

Sora and Riku left Sally’s office and exited the town hall. The sluggish drag from Riku’s walk was gone and there even seemed to be a little pep in his step as they bounced possible ingredients for future nightmare tonics back and forth: anticipation, loneliness, hope/despair, perhaps malice if they can get their hands on it. Sora threw out guesses to what flavors different emotions would have after Riku explained fear had a little bit of a zing to it, like a tart lemon candy.

The walk back seemed much faster than the way to the office building, probably because of the lack of detours. They reached the high metal gate that lead to the swirly hill in no time, Riku passed through but turned around when he noticed Sora was no longer in step with him. The younger vampire seemed to have his feet stuck to the ground, looking down the stony road that led back to the mansion.

“I better get back.” He said reluctantly, fiddling with his gloves. “It’s gonna be morning soon and, heh, I’m kind of tired.”

Returning to the mansion was going to be tough, but with any luck the others would already be in their coffins, unaware of his return. He wasn’t looking forward to facing the four vampires now that what they really thought about him was out in the open. They probably didn’t mean to ostracize him, well, at least one or two definitely didn't- the Vampire Lord could eat a garlic filled gym sock for all Sora cared- but the anticipation of feeling unwanted was scary. It made his stomach churn like a sip of bad blood and his hands beneath his gloves became sweaty.

Riku drank in the anxious tone, stiff posture and reluctance to go. He remembered what brought Sora to the boneyard in the first place and frowned. Sora had been quite vocal in his frustrations while he was unaware of his presence in the boneyard, and the few longing glances he received as a bat didn’t go unnoticed. The thought of the other vampires mocking Sora sparked something unpleasant inside him. “You gonna be alright?”

Sora simply shrugged, eye still glued to the long dreary path making Riku’s frown deepen.

“Come back tomorrow.”

Sora finally looked back at Riku in surprise.

“I mean,” Riku’s posture stiffened, but rather than discomfort his pointed ears turned pink, seemingly embarrassed as he struggled to find what he was trying to say, "if it's all the same to you, I think I'll stick around a little while longer after all. So you should come back. I, umm, want you… to come back."

It might as well have been morning, because with the way Sora smiled the area seemed to light up. Sora shook his head and rubbed beneath his nose bashfully, “Okay. See you tomorrow!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Share your thoughts if you'd like!  
> You can also find me on twitter @kahazel_


	2. Chapter 2

The vampire’s mansion was quiet- a strangled silence, tight and anticipatory, with the only sound coming from the grandfather clock bravely ticking the seconds away. At 6:45 the silence was broken by a muffled electric beeping that sounded entirely out of place in the antiquity of the mansion. The Vampire Lord emerged from his coffin, yawning and patting his wrist a few times to silence the alarm on his digital watch. He tiptoed over to the other coffins and quietly tapped on them one by one until the Count, Baron and Prince emerged.

“Are ve leaving early again?” The Baron whispered crossly. He rubbed his tired eyes with a pudgy fist, clearly displeased at being woken early and unhappy about their subterfuge.

“Ve already agreed this is the best vay to spare his feelings.” The Lord responded sharply. “Iv you vent to sleep early instead ov staying up to make sure the boy returns for the night, you vould not be this tired.”

The Baron shrunk at the accusation while the Count nodded silently agreeing with the Lord.

“Now come, let us go before he vakes,”

“Vait.” The Vampire Prince spoke loudly, causing the other three to stop their escape and swivel around to look at him. “Look, his coffin.”

The vampires approached Sora’s coffin and saw that the top was slightly askew. The Count pressed his ear to the lid, quietly listening for breathing or sleepy mumbles before shifting away and shaking his head with a confused shrug. They pulled back the lid, but there was no vampire inside to blink awake and greet them. They peered in patting the sides, searching as if Sora could be hiding in the stitches.

“He’s gone again?” The Baron questioned out loud.

“Fourth time this veek.” The Prince noted. He crossed his thin arms thoughtfully. “Ver could he be going?”

\---

It had been a fun couple of weeks since he and Riku first met. The boneyard became less Sora’s hideaway and less Riku’s resting spot, and more _their_ secret place. A safe haven away from large crowds of unfamiliar faces and judgemental vampires. They met frequently now, and on nights when Sora was feeling particularly restless they ventured into town or even to where the humans are to find more tonic ingredients or give them a good scare.

Sora grinned up at the tree when he spotted Riku asleep in the high most branches. It wasn't often that Riku chose his bat form around him, but since they stayed up late last night Riku's wings wrapped tight around his body, most likely catching up on some extra sleep he missed- meaning Sora had a rare opportunity to surprise Riku and perhaps sneak a touch of the soft fuzz on his ears and wings.

It was an opportunity too good to pass up. Sora climbed as quietly as he could, inching up frustratingly slow so the dry branches didn’t creak loudly as they supported his weight. He paused a few times when Riku’s ears twitched, and waited a few excruciatingly slow seconds before continuing on when he was sure his friend's sleep remained undisturbed. Just as he got close enough to reach out and give Riku a poke, the branch he tried to pull himself up with snapped. Sora let out an unflattering yelp as he lost balance and began to tumble down. Before he could twist and right himself something caught him by the wrist. He looked up to see a green claw emerging from a puff of multicolored smoke as Riku caught him practically mid-transformation.

Riku hauled Sora back up into the tree looking ruffled from waking up so abruptly and seeing a familiar brown and black blur tumble out of sight. He set Sora down on thicker branches that could support his weight and batted away the embarrassing sparkles that lingered in the air from his change.

Once Sora was settled, the young vampire kept one arm tightly hugging the trunk so he wouldn’t lose balance while he raises the other hand in an awkward thumbs up. “Nice reflexes.”

Riku sighed, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you just walk up here, you could have broken your neck with that fall.” He hid the worried tone behind a shield of exasperation, trying to shake off the spook that Sora could really get hurt if he wasn’t careful.

Sora kicked his feet a little, sheepish expression twisting into something uncomfortable. “Yeah that makes sense. ‘Cept I can’t walk up trees. Or buildings.”

Since they hung out Riku slowly discovered what things Sora couldn't do like hypnotize, erase memories or even accelerated speed. Though it was quite normal to miss several traits from one vampire to the next, none of them seemed to bother him as much as not being able to fly. As optimistic as Sora was, his wings seemed to deflate the smallest fraction whenever witches passed over them cackling on their brooms or if they caught sight of skeletal reindeer racing across the moon. So Riku stayed exclusively in his large form when Sora was around, refusing to be the cause of another longing look.

"Oh." Riku muttered. "Sorry."

Sora scrunched up his nose at the apology. It didn’t take a genius to tell Riku was trying to be conscious of his limitations which irked him.

“Can you show me how to walk down?” Sora asked.

“What?”

“Maybe it’s something I could learn? I got some growling and clawing lessons from the Wolfman, and Harlequin gave me some tips on hissing. I used to be really bad at it but you should hear me now. Anyway, maybe you can give me some pointers on this? I’m a really fast learner.” He added with a hint of pride in his voice.

Riku couldn’t exactly say no, not with Sora clinging to the tree looking and at him with all the world’s hope in his eye.

“A fast learner huh? I guess it's worth a try."

He pushed his cape over his shoulder and stood completely perpendicular to the tree. "You just kind of ignore the tug of gravity.” He continued on seeing Sora’s perplexed look. “It’s hard to explain. The tree or wall or whatever becomes your new anchor instead of the ground, watch.”

Sora watched as Riku tucked his hands into his pockets and walked down the tree, besides the odd angle of his cape pointed downward and his hair spilling over his shoulder, it was like he was taking an every day stroll. He transition to the ground smoothly, looking back up at him with raised eyebrows, mouth quirking at Sora’s impressed expression.

“You don’t have to be so smug about it!” Sora grouched, making Riku chuckle.

“Alright. I can do this. I can do this I can do this.” Sora boosted himself. He placed a tentative foot on the trunk and gripped the branch he sat on with both hands. His eye followed the descent of a few dead leaves that jostled from his movements and spiraled to the ground confirming that yes, he was indeed pretty high. But if he could at least walk down, maybe he could figure out that pull of gravity thing Riku was talking about and eventually find a way to stay in the air.

“Maybe you should start from a lower height!” Riku called up but Sora only shook his head, spikes bouncing this way and that as he prepared to stand. “Just climb down a little!”

“Would you can it?? I’m trying to concentrate here!” Sora shot back feeling cross at his sudden lack of faith. He could do this. The other vampires may not believe in him but why couldn’t Riku have more faith?

After releasing a final puff of breath Sora pushed up as if to stand but slipped down before he managed to place his second foot on the tree. Riku opened his arms to catch him but instead of crashing to the ground, the smaller vampire managed to right himself this time, twisting like a cat in the air, and glided the rest of the way before soundlessly landing perched on a gravestone. He hopped down and was about to climb the tree for another go when he caught Riku’s eye. The boy looked like he was perplexed at what he just saw.

“Oh come on, it was my first try. Give me a couple of chances to get the hang of it.”

Riku snapped his mouth shut and shook his head quickly as he trotted over to Sora. "It’s not that, I just, never thought gliding could look so graceful. I didn’t know you could do that. It was cool."

Monsters didn’t usually compliment him so easily and the unexpected praise took Sora by surprise. His embarrassment skyrocketed and he shoved his hand in Riku’s face giving him a push before the taller vampire noticed just how happy the words made him. “Sh- shut up! That’s so embarrassing. Geez.”

Riku batted Sora’s hand away giving him an amused look before walking around him.

“What are you doing?” Sora shuffled to turn around with him but stopped when Riku held one of his shoulders.

“Just getting a better look at your wings, hold still for two seconds. You can hold still for two seconds right?”

"Ha _ha_." Sora rolled his eye but stayed put as Riku straightened his shoulders and turned him around to get a better look at his wings. He followed Riku’s instructions and gave them a little flap, folded them in and extended them as far as they could go so he could see their range of motion. They seemed perfectly healthy- the skin was smooth and leathery, a nice dark matte black, the bones were strong. Other than being on the smaller side they seemed to be perfectly healthy. Riku had certainly seen monsters fly with less.

“If only we could find a way to help you get that lift.” He contemplated out loud. “I think that's the only thing holding you back.”

“Lift….. yeah. I mean, ghosts, witches and reindeer can do it without wings. They must have some way to get it.” Sora turned back around placing a clawed finger to his mouth as he thought.

“Ghosts don’t have bodies, and witches have their brooms.” Riku pointed out.

“That’s true. So what do the reindeer have that I don’t then? Maybe it has something to do with the way they were created in the lab? I mean, they’re strong enough to pull a sled across the sky and they’re just bones! Plus with all those toys it must have weighed a ton. The… sled… the, sled… wait that's it! That could work! Zero! Zero!!!"

Riku covered his ears as Sora cupped his hands and shouted the name a few times. A small white ghostly dog flew out of the moonlight and circled around them, yapping happily when Sora reached out to pet him, or, at least the air around him. The action itself seemed to make the ghost dog happy even if Sora’s hand didn’t quite connect.

“There you are boy! Zero, I need you to go get Jack, can you do that for me? Tell him to bring the you-know-what to the forest.” The ghostly dog nodded a few times and gave Sora a lick leaving a trail of ectoplasm on his cheek before flying off disappearing through a wall.

“Come on Riku, let's go!”

“Hey wait a minute!” Riku was becoming accustomed to Sora’s think later action now way of getting things done and caught him by the back of his capelet before he got too far. “As much as I love running around without a clue what's going on, care to divulge this plan of yours this time around?” He asked.

“Oh, okay on the way then come on!"

They stepped into the mausoleum to leave. In the darkness Riku reached out and Sora glanced at his hand oddly before taking it. Sora briefly wondered if Riku could see in the dark. Or maybe he had echo location? He pursed his lips as he mused on that, the dream eating vampire already had so many talents, afterlife was unfair. Either way it was easier to climb through with a steady hand to hold.

Once they were out of the boneyard and headed to the forest Sora began his explanation, "Remember the whole Christmas debacle a few years ago? The one where Jack tried to give Sandy Claws a vacation and take on Halloween _and_ Christmas?”

Despite not being in Halloween Town at the time, news about the holiday change reached far and wide. The humans were not all appreciative of one of their favorite holidays being hijacked and coverage was available on every source of media available. People had nightmares for weeks about the improved toys: man eating wreaths, shrunken heads that screeched, dolls that chased and scratched, dead animals with revolting smells. It was wonderful. Riku could seldom remember a time when food was more available.

“I wasn’t here for most of it, but I remember the humans making a big deal about it. It made world wide news.”

“Yeah! On one hand we learned what presents are which is kind of awesome, but on the other everything pretty much fell apart. I mean, things literally fell apart. Jack was blasted out of the sky, Oogie Boogie unraveled and Mayor Sally lost a leg for a while." Sora whistled and made an exploding sound as he regaled the story.

Riku made an expression Sora could only identify as, yikes.

“Before Dr. Finklestein made the reindeer there were some sled prototypes, just in case the reindeer couldn’t take off the ground!”

“So, you’re going to use a sled prototype to fly?”

“Kinda but not exactly?" Sora said.

Just then, their conversation was interrupted by a ghostly bark announcing the arrival of none other than the King of Halloween himself. He waved one long skinny arm in wide arches as he came into view from between the trees, while the other clutched a wrapped package in the crook of his elbow. A wide toothy smile spread across his bony face as he took impossibly long steps to reach them faster. Rumor had it that he could scare even the most stoic soul into an early grave, that he could make the stalwart cower in fear. With his spider-like appearance it could be true.

Riku watched Sora run from his side and launch into Jack’s arms. The Pumpkin King dropped a large package, which hit the ground with a heavy clang, to spin both of them around before settling Sora on the ground.

An unbidden thought crept into Riku’s mind at the sight. Sora never leaped into his arms before. He never held Sora in an embrace like that before either. Jack’s arms looked a little too long to hold Sora properly, and a little too thin to support him. It would be much better if he did it. His claws itched with the desire to pull Sora away and wrap themselves around his narrow shoulders and waist, maybe even give him a twirl so he could hear his peals of laughter and hold him close. He wanted to… hold, Sora? That was new.

“Didja bring it?”

Sora’s voice brought Riku back to the present. He shook his head as if he could shake away the thought and approached the two in mechanical steps.

“What’s this all about?” Riku asked.

Sora made an _oh_! face before practically hopping behind Riku and putting his hands on his shoulders. He peeked around Riku’s arm and nudged forward to bring them all just the barest of inches closer together. Two of his good friends were about to meet, the idea was such a happy prospect! “Jack, this is my friend-”

“Riku! Yes Sally told me all about you I’ve been dying to make your acquaintance!” Jack said with wild excitement. He reached forward to take Riku by the claw and gave it three vigorous shakes making the vampire's shoulder bounce. “Truly a pleasure to meet our only resident spirit vampire! A dream eater I heard, quite rare!”

Riku pulled his claw away from Jack feeling uncomfortable. His expression closed off as his body tensed uncomfortably. The overly familiar greeting and the fact that Jack seemed to know about him made him feel like he was at a disadvantage.

Sora noticed Riku clench his fist and his posture slightly tighten. He stepped over to Riku’s side. “He’s a little, uh, shy, when it comes to meeting new monsters.”

Riku whipped his head and gave Sora a sharp look, cheeks tinged with the slightest pink at being called out like that.

“Don't look at me like that you are!”

Jack's wide smile faded into an understanding one but his voice kept a slight haughty tone to it. “Ah, you must be star struck. It happens all the time. Don’t mind the whole ‘king’ thing, that’s really more for theatrics I don’t take the title seriously.”

“So? Did you bring it?” Sora asked, trying to steer the uncomfortable conversation away from Riku.

“I sure did!"

Jack picked up the object he brought with him. He pulled the tarp off with a flourish revealing a rocket about the length of Sora's arm and nearly as wide as his waist. Sora quickly took the rocket and slipped his arms through leather straps looking down right giddy. If all he was missing was lift, surely this would grant it! Then all his problems would be solved. He could fly with Riku wherever they wanted to go, maybe even beat him too.

"Woah wait a minute!" Riku grabbed Soras hands before they could clip the strap buckles together around his chest. " _This_ is your idea? You're going to launch yourself with a rocket?? We should think about this before it gets dangerous."

"Relax it's safe, don't get your cape in a twist." Sora reassured and shifted away so he could clip the buckles. Riku’s overbearing concern yet again began to sour his excitement. “Can't you just trust me on something?”

Riku gave him a pleading look as he tried to make eye contact with his friend. “Falling out of a tree is one thing, but strapping a rocket on your back is completely different!” He prayed to the astrals Sora would see reason.

Jack held up a remote with a large single red button giving it a little shake. "Not to worry, we did some tests with the others and this is the one that didn’t explode. It’s the most stable out of all the prototypes.” He said confidently.

“ _EXPLODE_?!” Riku shouted, making Sora jump with his volume. He knows the sound of a few screws rattling around in the rocket did not come from his imagination, fueling his ever growing panic even more. “Sora you can’t be serious!”

Riku felt like his brain was about to explode if he didn't get the rocket off of Sora's back immediately. He didn't want his first friend to blow up into tiny pieces, you can't stitch a vampire back together. He remembered what Mayor Sally said when they were alone in her office, _They do tend to get into trouble, especially when they’re around each other_. Is this the kind of trouble she meant?

“It'll be fine trust me!" Sora insisted.

"I also had the doctor look it over before bringing it here, there’s an eighty five percent chance nothing will go wrong." Jack supplied unhelpfully.

“That’s still _fifteen percent_ you could-”

The warning fell on deaf ears as Sora bent his knees and looked to Jack with a thumbs up. “I’ll take those odds! Now! Push the button Jack!”

“WAIT-”

Riku brought his arms over his face as Sora shot off the ground a few feet away from him, leaving him and Jack behind in a cloud of smoke.

Sora blasted into the air, past the top of the trees and kept climbing higher in altitude. The feeling was exhilarating! Everything he hoped for and he loved it all; the cool night air rushing past his face, the absence of boundaries around him, the stars seemingly within reach. He raised an arm to see if he could touch an impossibly far star, but the motion sent his body to swerving to the right.

He tried flapping his wings instinctively to keep balance but only one managed to become loose, the other was pinned tightly to his back by the straps. The imbalance from one wing sent him careening in a different direction. It flapped uselessly not being able to straighten his course with its twin trapped beneath the rocket.

Sora spun and flailed high above the ground as he tried to right himself. He collided with something soft and fuzzy, Riku looking frantic as he clinged to Sora for dear life. Riku squeeped angrily and bit the straps, releasing Sora from the rocket.

With both wings free Sora instantly corrected his body, but without the rocket he was descending faster than he ever had before- it was not so much a glide but a head first plummet back down to the forest. Sora lost hold of Riku and smacked into a few branches before hitting the ground with a loud crash.

Riku had been flying after him, just barely keeping up. He transformed back before even landing on the ground and bolted to where Sora crashed, skidding on dead leaves and landing heavily beside his friend. “SORA!! Are you alright??”

Pulling Sora into a sitting position he checked every angle for injury. Riku patted his chest, felt his arms and legs, and threaded Sora’s hair with shaky fingers. Some scratches, a large bump on his head, but luckily nothing broken or bleeding.

“Nes time, helm-t.” Sora slurred before passing out, falling limp in Riku’s arms.

Jack ran over to them with a few long strides. He approached the two vampires clapping his hands, laughing brightly as if he was told the most delightful news. “That was MARVELOUS!! You really got some impressive height- now that we have a way to get you in the air we just need to figure out how to keep you in it. I- oh. He’s passed out. Well that’s okay, I’ll take some mental notes. Maybe I can ask the doctor to rig up some flight stabilizers on the rocket. I’m sure Sally will have some suggestions!” He waived his long arms around as he spoke dramatically.

Riku didn’t bother to acknowledge Jack. Instead he carefully gathered the boy in his arms and held him carefully, as if he could fall apart any second.

“Hmm.” Jack raised a bony finger and tapped his face thoughtfully as he watched Riku pick Sora up. “He’ll be okay. Sora doesn’t know the meaning of fall damage. I can take him and have him looked at by Dr. Finklestein now that he’s back. The doctor has treated him before, a little fresh blood he’ll bounce right back.”

“You’ve done enough.” Riku said, frustration putting him on edge. He found himself unable to control what spilled out of his mouth next. “Friends are supposed to make sure friends don’t get hurt right? Keep them out of harm's way? But all you’ve done is encourage him to do something dangerous and look what happened! He almost broke his neck! He might still be up there if it wasn’t for me!” Riku took heaving breaths that shook his chest.

Sora groaned as the motion stirred him, bumping his head against Riku’s bicep.

Riku fought to calm his breathing, eye hardening mistrustfully before turning around and practically stomping out of the forest with Sora in his arms. “I don’t think you’re a good friend for Sora to be around.” He muttered before he was out of hearing distance.

Jack tumbled back in shock, bony butt landing on the dirt. He felt his jaw unhinge, his mandible nearly disconnecting from his skull at Riku’s words. "I- I _am_ a good friend." He insisted almost breathless from the accusation. “Aren’t I, Zero?”

The ghost dog flew closer to him, seeing how distressed Jack had become.

“Sora’s never gotten hurt before. He’s gotten out of worse licks than this I’m positive. Remember when he fell from the top of Oogie’s tower after climbing all the way up?”

Jack watched Riku carry Sora off towards the town. “Riku seems to care about Sora.” He spoke out loud to himself. Zero flew up to his master, nuzzling his hand with a faint whimper. "He really, _really_ cares. That worried look in his eye, it reminds me of how Sally gets sometimes."

He walked through the forest thinking about Riku’s behavior and lamenting the entire encounter. Maybe Riku was right. Maybe he was guilty of putting his friends in danger. It wouldn't be the first time. There was also the time he tried to reanimate puppets to try and have them dance in the town square, only for them to turn and attack the residents of Halloween Town. The all too famous Christmas fiasco that put Sally in danger. And then the time he tried to bring Christmas to Halloween Town for a second time only to result in stolen presents, an experiment gone violently wrong, and Sandy insisting he stick to what he’s good at. The thoughts were so tragic it made him want to open his mouth and sing his sorrow to the empty forest.

Jack continued on, heedless of where his feet were carrying him until he found himself in a familiar ring of trees.

“Here again? Why do I always find myself here when I’m upset? Is it because something draws me to this place?”

Zero tilted his head, clearly just as confused.

Jack circled around the trees, dismissing them one by one: a four leaf clover, no, everyone was drunk in there. The turkey? No. That one had nothing but an endless feast inside with foods so rich and heavy it would surely make the vampires sick. The colorful egg, no, that one was his least favorite. And the large rabbit who ran the holiday seemed to have a personal vendetta against him. The heart… yes. The heart! An idea struck him. A wonderful idea! A splendid idea! An idea he didn’t need to spend more than two seconds contemplating on because the excitement trembling within his bones was just too great to contain! He hadn’t felt this inspired since he first gazed at the tree shaped door!

“This is it Zero! This will make it up to Riku and Sora I’m sure of it! Come on, let's go inside.”

He approached the tree with the heart shaped door, twisted the handle, and stepped inside.

\---

Riku ran to Dr. Finklestein’s home as fast as he could. Sora no longer made annoyed grunts as he was jostled which only spured Riku faster. He raced up the steps to the building and balanced Sora on his shoulder to knock on the metal door loudly.

They didn’t have to wait long before a tall figure opened the door. A woman with yellow hair, dramatic eyelashes so thick they obscured her eyes, and lips smothered in thick gooey red lipstick. Her limbs bore familiar stitches, evidence of the doctor’s handywork, though hers were clean, neat and precise. They seemed meticulously placed with the utmost care, in contrast with Sally’s whose stitches were loose, like she came apart and put herself back together with unsteady hands many times.

“May I help you?” She asked. Her voice had a smooth, sultry tone with a hint of an accent Riku couldn't quite place.

“Is Dr. Finklestien here?” Riku asked urgently, “I have an emergency, my friend is hurt.”

The woman let out a tiny oh dear and opened the door wider for him to come inside. She walked them quickly through the home, up a spiral staircase to the highest room which revealed itself to be a laboratory. There were odd machines along the walls spinning, blinking and beeping as electricity coursed through their circuits. Tables cluttered much of the room with beakers and tubes filled with fluids of different colored bubbling liquids scattered every spare inch of their surface. They walked to the center of the room where a rather uncomfortable looking metal examination table was found.

“Are you Jewel- I mean, Mrs. Finklestein?” Riku quickly corrected himself while placing Sora gently on the table.

“Why yes, I’m sure Mayor told you while he house sat for us, though I am also a doctor.”

“Jewel my treasure, who was at the- what’s going on here? Who are these two?”

Another person came into the room interrupting their conversation. He bore a striking resemblance to Jewel with his close set eyes and pinched flat mouth, only he was tiny and more grouchy looking than his counterpart. An annoyed sound warbled in the back of his throat as he approached the table on a mechanized wheelchair.

“Calm my love.” Jewel pacified, offering a hand to her husband in welcome. Their rubber gloves gave a tiny squeak as they joined. She gestured to Riku with her other hand, “This young man was just about to tell me what happened to his small friend.”

“Hmph. This ought to be good.”

He recounted what happened in the forest; Sora obtaining the rocket from Jack, strapping it on without question, blasting up a considerable height before losing control and crashing down. He stated the events quickly and factually as not to waste any time, unaware that his claw still held on to Sora’s wrist as he told the tale.

Dr. Finklestein waved a fist in the air and slapped it down on the handle of his wheelchair at the end of the story. “So that’s what he needed it for. I told Jack it was unfinished!” He grouched. “Stable, but unfinished. That boy is too eager for his own good I swear sometimes he just runs headfirst to the thing he sees. Hmph. Reminds myself of a younger me.”

“You spoil him my darling.” Jewel tutted. “That’s what you get for always giving him new toys to play with.”

The doctor crossed his arms and grumbled again, but Jewel placed a hand on his cheek melting away the creases on his face with a simple stroke of her thumb. Riku observed the change curiously. How could one monster affect the other so much? What was this, a spell, hypnotism, something else? It was as if Jewel was a soothing balm to Dr. Finklestein’s frustration and ego.

“Anything else dear?”

Riku jolted and brought his eye back to hers while Dr. Finklestien cleared his throat looking uncharacteristically embarrassed.

“What?” Riku asked.

“What were his symptoms after the fall?” Jewel asked patiently.

“Oh. His speech was slurred before he lost consciousness.”

Jewel nodded but didn’t look too concerned. “Probably only a mild concussion. He’ll need some rest and a little blood to perk him up, but I’m sure he’ll be fine. I think we have some fresh blood in the icebox. Keep him company darling while I go get it.”

Jewel kissed the top of the doctor’s large bald head and left the lab, leaving the doctor looking positively smitten. After a few moments he shook his head and the two merely existed in the same space in awkward silence. Riku’s mind wandered to the last time Sora managed to dragged him out of the boneyard and they were in the Finklestein’s home. He and Sora busied themselves making nightmare meringue and bloody bon bons with Mayor. They were each looking forward to having a snack made suited for their respective tastes. Sora was thoughtful enough to mix his ingredients in a separate room so Riku wouldn’t be subjected to the metallic smell while he whipped the meringue into stiff peaks just as Mayor showed him. When they rejoined, all that was left was to let the meringue bake and bon bons set in the icebox.

When Mayor brought their finished treats in from the kitchen, Sora didn't bother to wait for the sweets to be plated. He plucked a nightmare meringue right off the tray and popped it in his mouth, curious to know what nightmares taste like. Mayor's head spun to a frown as he scolded that part of the fun was artful presentation. The meringue was an indigo hue that glittered pink, and though maybe the swirls were a little clumsy, Riku thought they were pretty enough on the tray. The bon bons a lovely shade of burnt umber with a sprinkle of cocoa powder on top. They were all inconsistent in shape which Sora insisted gave them personality.

In the end, Sora deemed the meringue chalky and rather bland- he only ate half of one before giving the rest to Riku to finish off. Riku thought the meringue was sweet and crisp, he quite liked it. Despite both being vampires, they would never see eye to eye when it came to food he supposed. But he was okay with that. They left the home with whipped meringue in their hair, cocoa powder on their sleeves, arms filled with sweet success, and smiles on their faces.

His fond expression melted into something of sadness as he thought of the next evening. He found Sora at the usual spot doodling forlornly on one of the tombstones with a wedge of chalk. Apparently he placed the bon bons on a plate for the vampires to try. The next evening they were all gone but none of the vampires claimed to have touched them. Sora suspected the Vampire Lord simply threw them away. Riku wanted to march up to the mansion that night and give them a piece of his mind, but Sora brushed it off, feigning indifference. It was their loss. They would never know how delicious the bon bons tasted. They would never know how precious Sora was.

Why were they so fast to push him away just because he couldn’t fly? It was true, Riku never met a vampire that couldn’t fly but, was that reason enough to reject him?

“What's wrong with him.” Riku whispered under his breath.

Dr. Finklestein made an inquisitive noise and raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? Speak up boy it’s rude to mutter to yourself you know.” He demanded.

“I mean, why can't he fly? Maybe there really is something wrong with him. If I can just help him fix him or figure it out why, he would be much better off.”

“For someone with a whole brain you’re quite an imbecile.” The doctor gave him an odd look and jabbed him roughly in the side with a glass stirrer he snatched off the table. “What’s wrong with _you_?” He barked rudely. “You consume insubstantial emotion for heaven sakes, you think not being able to fly is the oddest thing around here? And who gave you the right to determine what would ‘fix him’ or make him ‘better off?’” The doctor said with a sarcastic air quote.

Riku tsked and rubbed his side. He supposed, rather petulantly, that the professor had a point- he didn’t have the right to decide what would make Sora better off. Sora couldn’t fly, but he had an impressive high jump. He couldn’t enthrall others to do his bidding, but he could perform small acts of elemental magic. Sora had a repertoire of impressive abilities that he seemed to forget since he was so focused on the lack of certain abilities those closest around him criticized him for. If he wasn’t around the other vampires, he wouldn’t feel judged. Just like if he wasn’t around Jack, he wouldn’t have gotten a concussion. If he could convince him to stay in the boneyard with him, if he could just take Sora, he would be much happier.

Dr. Finkestein smacked Riku over the head with a wooden spoon this time. “I know that look.” He accused, “If only I can lock him away. That’s what you were thinking isn’t it? Well let me tell you, you can’t do that. You can't lock him away. He’ll only look for a way out again and again, giving you so many migraines. Oh the migraines.” He said the last part more to himself before returning his focus back on Riku. “And if you’re lucky, _if_ you’re lucky,” Dr. Finklestien’s voice took a more serious, croaky tone, “he won’t resent you for it. Trust me, I would know.”

Riku didn’t say anything but Dr. Finklestein read his look all the same. He seemed to be good at that.

“Yes, I am speaking from experience.” The doctor looked to the door, listened for a second to hear if Jewel was approaching, and continued deeming it safe enough for the private conversation. “I regret locking Sally away for so long. She’s so bright, so intelligent- not as intelligent as Jewel or I mind you- but I wanted to shelter her. Keep her safe.” He clenched the spoon tightly, looking deeply into the holes at its center, “I thought she was delicate! Fragile! I wanted her to only rely on me! But,” he took a wet breath, the spoon quietly clacked on the table as he softly released it, “I was wrong. She’s her own person and I can’t force my will or desires on her. Now she’s my friend. Not my property but my equal. And I have Jewel.”

The doctor looked up to see Jewel standing by the doorway, looking all the world’s love and appreciation at him.

“Ahhh, my better half.” He cooed at her, straightening a little as she entered the room.

“Have I missed a heart to heart chat? It’s so rare I do love seeing this softer side of you with others.” Jewel said as she approached them holding a blood bag in her hands.

Dr. Finklestein spluttered, his pasty white cheeks suddenly aflame. “No not at all, he’s hardly worth my time. I’ve got more important things to do than babysit you know! We have projects that need to be reviewed, new coils to install, I need to check to make sure experiment four hundred and fifty nine hasn’t woken up before we reattach his-”

Jewel placed a hand on his shoulder bringing him out of his embarrassed ramble. Riku watched again as he was soothed by her mere touch. What kind of power did Jewel hold over the Doctor to be able to accomplish this?

Jewel nodded and waved him off. “Meet me in lab six, I won’t be long. We can prod the two hundred and four’s nervous system to see how he responds.”

Once Dr. Finkelstein left she attached a tube to the bag and returned her care to the vampires. “Well, let’s get your friend healed up shall we?” She said, raising the tube to Sora’s mouth. “I heated it up, it’ll be introduced into his body better that way.”

Riku watched as Jewel gave the bag a light squeeze. The dark blood flowed through the tube and past Sora's pink lips. He couldn’t help noticing a small wayward drop escape from the corner of Sora’s mouth. It trailed down a smooth freckled neck and disappeared into his collar. It was one part alluring but unfortunately three parts disgusting. The mere thought of blood was enough to make him queasy, seeing it drip down Sora’s chin was making his stomach churn.

As Sora opened his eye he caught a glimpse of Riku braced against the side of the table with his free hand and retch. His shoulders shook as the remnants of his breakfast spilled out of his mouth from revulsion at the sight of red warm blood.

Riku managed to pull himself together, standing up stiff as a headstone. He looked down to where his hand still held on to Sora’s, the younger rubbing his thumb across the back of his knuckles. The queasiness seemed to be wiped away with every swipe of Sora’s thumb, and replaced with a soft comfort. It spread up his arm slowly, blooming with a soothing warmth in his chest and he finally connected the dots.

Sora blinked at him and said, “Did you just... barf a _rainbow_??”

Yep. He was in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Share your thoughts if you'd like!  
> You can also find me on twitter @kahazel_


	3. Chapter 3

The vampire’s mansion was in a state of uproar. Fingers being pointed, accusations thrown around the room, a couple of spiders even packed up their webs to relocate until the heat died down.

“I knew it!! You ate all ov Sora’s bon bons!!” Accused the Count, his voice pitched high like nails on glass as he shouted. He held the empty plate up to the Lord’s face and gave it an angry shake. “I could smell the dark chocolate on your breath a couple ov nights ago, and now here you are. Sneaking out to see iv there are more on the plate! You know I vanted to try one!”

When the vampires arrived home a few nights ago, they were surprised to see a plate of sweets in the parlor where they kept their coffins. The bon bons were arranged in a messy little pyramid looking delectable. They could smell high quality blood infused with dark bitter chocolate, a hint of cocoa powder dusted the top to bring it all together. They agreed to try them the following night since they were quite tired and they could see the sky beginning to bloom orange through the windows. When they awoke however, the plate was empty and the bon bons were gone. 

When Sora asked them what they thought of the treats, none of the vampires admitted to eating them. The young vampire fled the mansion without even a whisper of goodbye before they could figure out what happened.

The Lord huffed and crossed his arms. So he was found out. “Yes. It vas I vho ate the chocolates! But I only meant to eat vone! But vone turned into two, and then twvelve, and, they vere so good. Just ‘ave Sora make more!” He said petulantly, though there was a hope of longing in his voice at the thought.

“Selfish! Greedy!” The Count sneered- the Vampire Lord’s confession only seemed to ignite his temper further. He brought the plate down with such force it almost chipped the ceramic on the table. “He probably vont make more because he’s upset!! Ve haven't seen him in many nights!” 

Finally seeming to have enough of the spat, the Vampire Prince uncrossed his legs and stood up from his chair. He gently raised his hand, quieting the feud with the action. The vampires all looked at him nervously, having a good idea as to what he was going to say. 

“And vhy do you think he is being upset?” The Prince said slowly, deliberately, allowing the question to linger and sink in like bad blood in the pit of their stomachs. He looked at each of them individually before probing further. “Vhat possible reason could he ‘ave for returning later night avter night, not vanting to greet us in the morning or share more treats? Not vanting to return at all?”

The Count, Baron and Lord all looked in different directions, staring at the faded rug, moth eaten curtain or nicks in the walls as the question loomed heavily around them. It wasn’t a hard guess. Sora’s distancing had been slow at first, but now that the boy was no longer around his absence was undeniable.

It was the Baron who spoke first, finally brave enough to bring their behavior out in the open. “Because. Ve treat him poorly. Vone ov our own, ignored and cast aside. Now ve hardly see him. I miss him.”

“Me to.” The Lord agreed, surprising the others. He frowned at their shocked expressions, crossed his arms and whipped his head away. “Vat? My heart may no longer beat, but it’s still there. I vas, too harsh on the boy, I know this now.”

The Count nodded, looking at Sora’s coffin as if he hoped Sora would hop out and surprise them. “I vas too critical vith him too.” He admitted. “I shouldn’t have pushed him avay so callously.”

“Ve vill make things right.” The Vampire Prince declared with conviction.

\---

Sora and Riku walked out of the mayor’s office and trotted down the stone steps that lead to the town square. Sora held a clipboard, cheerily flipping between a few pages of instructions while Riku held an old cardboard box in his arms stuffed full of garland, tangled up twinkly lights and other various decorations.

Sally called the two vampires over in the early evening, finally making good on their offer for help whenever she needed it. The Halfway-to-Halloween Festival was almost upon them and it didn’t take too much persuasion for them to agree to help decorate the square while she finished the last minute preparations. They easily complied to her request and proudly assured her that they were more than capable of making the square look festive and spooky for the night. Probably.

“Let’s see. We’ve got three nights until the festival to clean and decorate, but we should probably finish early on the last night so the band can warm up and stuff before everyone starts arriving, right?” Sora asked.

Riku nodded and adjusted the box so the corners didn't dig into his arms while he walked, “Yeah. And Mayor will want to set out the snacks and drink early too.”

Sora’s wings gave an excited little flap. “Ohh. We’ll have to set up a separate snack table for you so you don’t go barfing everywhere at the sight of blood.” He snickered. “I still can’t believe you barfed on Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Finklestein’s floor. At least there wasn't a mess to clean up.”

Riku snatched a handful of streamers from the box and threw them at Sora, not appreciating the embarrassing reminder in the slightest. “Shut up about that already. And you’re still not off the hook.”

“Yeah yeah. I told you I was sorry like, a million times. No more rockets lesson learned.” Sora groaned as he pulled the streamers off of his face and out of his spiky hair. 

Though Sora didn’t want to give up completely, they decided it would be best to take a brief reprieve from flying lessons. Before he was fully recovered Riku caught him trying to walk down one of the tall tombstones outside the gates of the swirly hill. Unfortunately the obelisk-like tombstone wasn't secured to its foundation and tipped over with him still clinging to the top. It knocked into several others sending them all tumbling to the ground like dominos. Riku found him rubbing the back of his head looking abashed in a cloud of rubble. He made his disapproval known until Sora reluctantly agreed to keep his feet on the ground, but only until they thought of something else that could work since walking down vertical surfaces didn’t seem to yield results either. Luckily now he had the decorating project to keep him distracted for a little while.

Sora looked around gauging the area they were to set up. The square wasn’t overly big. They would need to sweep away dead leaves and clean up the fountain a little before they could start decorating, but if all went well it would be a really fun night. The half-way festival was a great way to pump everyone up for Halloween’s approach as the night was filled with games, plenty of treats and dancing into early hours of the morning. He glanced at Riku, feeling nervous all of a sudden. This would be Riku’s first festival since permanently staying in Halloween Town.

“Think you’ll come?” He chanced a hopeful glance at the taller vampire out of the corner of his eye trying not to be too obvious. “Mayor’ll probably bake a feast, it’d be a shame if there was no one there to appreciate those sparkly rocks you like so much.”

“The meringue is tasty.” Riku pointed out cooly. 

“Right right, if you say so. So, will you come? It’ll be tons more fun with you there.”

Unease and flattery twisted around Riku’s chest like coiling snakes. On one hand he was happy Sora wanted to spend the festival with him, but there would be crowds of strangers making him feel unsettled and nervous. “I’ll think about it.” He said with a soft smile. Said smile vanished into the air as he heard a greeting from a particular monster he didn’t care much for.

“Sora! Riku!” Jack walked over to them positively beaming. “Sally said you’d be here!”

Riku rolled his eye and pointedly dropped the box on the ground, rummaging through it without giving Jack much acknowledgement. His frown pinched a little as Jack ruffled Sora’s hair and the two engaged in a quick greeting and smalltalk he didn’t bother to pay attention to. Blah blah blah something about their task blah blah something about Jack disappearing for a few days. Untangling twinkling lights was much more important than whatever nonsense Jack would probably try to push on them. It wasn’t until he felt something sharp and bony poke his shoulder and Sora huffing his name that he sighed and looked up.

“What?” He asked flatly.

“Could I trouble you for a minute of your time?” Jack asked innocently.

“I’m busy.” He dismissed rudely and leaned back over the box, hair spilling over his shoulder like a silver river.

Sora raised a fist to cover his mouth and pointedly cleared his throat.

Riku clapped some dust off his hands and stood up with a heavy sigh. “Alright fine.”

“Great! Come with me, I need to speak to you in private.”

Jack’s long fingers caged his entire elbow and he began pulling the vampire out of the square. For someone who was just a skeleton he was surprisingly strong. He only managed to get a glimpse of Sora tilting his head in confusion before they rounded a corner out of sight. They took a few more twists and turns before finally coming to a halt before the gates of Jack and Sally’s house.

Finally Riku shook Jack's hand off and pinned at him with narrowed eyes. Pulling him to an area without any witnesses around, Jack was definitely up to something. 

“What do you want?”

“Riku,” Jack began formally, “I wanted to apologize for the impression I gave you the other evening. I do treasure my friends, and I thought long and hard about what you said. So I decided I would make it up to you! I know about your little crush on Sora and I figured out how t-”

“WHAT?!” Riku shouted before looking around to see if anyone heard them. “Are you insane? Why are you saying this all of a sudden??” His cheeks heated up as he tried to complete a sentence.

Jack stared at him silently for a moment. He raised one bony brow and Riku felt more and more uncomfortable as he stared into the black abyss of Jack’s empty eye sockets. At first Riku thought he would drop the subject, but slowly a toothy smile spread across Jack’s face sinking his hope.

“Oh. You have it bad. I can tell.” He put a hand on Riku’s shoulder and leaned down so they were closer to being eye-level. “Don’t worry though. Like I was trying to say, I know just what to do to help him reciprocate your feelings. You’re mostly there, he just needs a little push.”

Riku shoved Jack’s hand off his shoulder but it did nothing to dampen Jack’s excitement. Despite wanting to leave, Jack’s words kept him anchored to his spot. “What do you mean, mostly there?”

Jack patted Riku on the back as if he did something right. “He clearly likes you too, you’re both practically attached at the hip and he seems to be greatly concerned for your welfare. Sometimes you can like a person without even realizing it, like me with Sally. I was slow to realize her feelings, and even slower to realize my own. It’s such a good story. She would make me these little potions and send me meals when I got too consumed with research. She’s a great cook you know. One time I-”

Riku stayed tight-lipped as his thoughts spiralled around. Sora couldn’t possibly like him the same way, could he? As far as he was concerned Sora treated him the same way he treated any other friend. He was just nice like that. But, what if...

“-and it turns out her premonition was true after all, I should have worn my orange suspenders! But, back to my main point. You and Sora” Jack barreled on, unaware of Riku’s inner turmoil. “If you follow my instructions, I personally guarantee he’ll return your affections. After the whole rocket incident I made a special trip just for you. All the way to Valen-dies Town, a holiday specifically dedicated to love! Imagine that! They have the strangest courting rituals there, but it all seems to work! I did a lot of exploring while I was there and it can’t possibly go wrong. Wait here, let me grab something.”

Jack was in and out of his house in a matter of seconds. He proudly held out a strange floating object tethered to a string. It was pink, round, slightly frilly on the sides, and as it spun in the air Riku could see it had the words _Be Mine_ written on one side in swirly letters. It was definitely ugly, and not in the good way.

“This is a thing called a boo-loon.” The skeleton proclaimed with great aplomb, practically singing his words as if he were in some grand stage performance. “It’s supposed to incite joy in the one you give it to. I think. I don’t quite get it, but look how it floats! Kinda brings a smile to my face. And you’re going to give this as a present to Sora.”

The boo-loon’s string was thrusted into Riku’s hand and he looked at it with shock and displeasure.

“I can’t give this to him! He’ll hate it!!” What kind of message was, ‘be mine?’ It was so demanding. 

He tried to give it back to Jack but the Pumpkin King wasn’t having any of it. Jack raised his hands high in the air, well above his reach and over the walls that were hiding them.

“Sure you can!” Jack insisted. “I’ve seen it work like magic in Valen-dies Town. When given to someone the receiver is always happy at the thoughtful gesture.”

“Just take it back! I don’t need you or your meddling.”

“Don’t be so modest, It’s no trouble I’m happy to help!”

“That is _not_ what I said!”

“Are you two fighting?”

Riku and Jack whipped their heads around to see Sora walking towards them. He looked a little miffed at being left behind for so long. Cleaning was boring, but it was extra super boring doing it all by himself.

“Sora!” Jack bounced over to the smaller vampire and placed his hands on his shoulders, guiding him to Riku. “Perfect timing! Riku has something to give you!”

“You do?” Sora looked at Riku, mood instantly picking up at the prospect of a present.

“U-uhh….”

Without thinking, Riku held the string out for Sora to take. The boo-loon bobbed for a moment between them as Sora looked from Riku, to the string, to the pink floral back facing towards him, not quite sure how to make sense of it. It was like some weird kind of ghost… was it supposed to be a pet like zero?

“Here. This is a, boo-loon.” Riku’s smile was awkward. He saw Jack nodding with a thumbs up out of the corner of his eye so maybe he was doing this right?

“Hello Boo-loon. I like your name.” Sora greeted as he accepted the gift. It was always good to make a new friend he supposed. “Are you from around here? How did they tie a string to you if you’re a ghost?” The boo-loon didn’t really do anything except bob in the air a little when he tugged the string. He cupped his hand around his mouth leaning in to Riku and whispered, “Does he talk?”

Riku shrugged. He wasn’t sure where to go next with this but Sora seemed amused so, so far so good. It wasn’t until the boo-loon began a sluggish turn when his gut sank to the ground. His world began to spin just as slowly as the boo-loon and his stomach lurched at the sharp realization that the _Be Mine_ side was about to face Sora. He couldn’t let Sora see that side! It was too abrupt!! Too soon!! He reached up to snatch it before it fully turned, but as soon as his claws grabbed the boo-loon’s surface, it bursted with a loud _POP!!!_ startling all three of them.

Sora stared at the scraps of rubber falling to the stone ground in horror. He’d never witness a ghost dying before. He didn’t think it was possible. Is this what they refer to as double dead?

“Riku…. you…. you killed… boo-loon.”

Riku also stared at the rubber trying to process what just happened.

“Oh. I didn’t know they could die. I’ll have to add that to my notes.” 

Jack’s voice seemed to snap Sora out of his shock. He dropped to his knees and gathered the scraps of rubber in his claws.

“We need to take his body to Sally! Or the doctors! Let's go to the Finklestiens, they'll know what to do!! Quick!! Help me pick him up!!”

Without wasting any time Sora and Riku gathered the bits and pieces of the boo-loon’s body and rushed to the Finklestein’s lab. The Finklestiens were quick to agree to the little experiment- reanimation was something of their specialty. But time was of the essence. The best results were obtained when the body was still fresh and this boo-loon creature didn’t seem to have much to work with.

Boo-loon laid on the metal table, it’s shriveled body hastily stitched together and hardly recognizable. Giant coils hummed with electricity around it and the two doctors flipped the final switch, reaching to the high heavens shouting _Give this creature life! Live confound you, LIVE!!!_ But no matter how much lightning they pumped into its body, it remained lifeless. If anything- the flesh began to bubble and melt seconds into the experiment which freaked Sora out even more he had to leave.

The Doctors shrugged off the failure, cataloging the results and moving on to their next experiment without much of a pause, ordering Igor to shoo away the vampires and dispose of the body on the way out.

And that was the end of boo-loon.

The next night Riku waited solemnly in the boneyard for Sora to show. He wasn’t sure if the younger vampire would ever want to see him again after what transpired yesterday, if the distraught look on his face was anything to go by. His thoughts wandered as he drummed his fingers anxiously on his knees, maybe he should go to the mansion to check on him, just in case. But what if that was too invasive, Sora never invited him over before after all.

“Hi Riku!” Sora chirped as he arrived, pulling Riku out of his thoughts. “Ready to get decorating?”

“S-Sora?” Riku rose up in a flash, taking in Sora’s usual cheerful disposition. He seemed to have a bounce in his step as he strode over. “You seem, in high spirits.” He winced a little thinking this would surely remind Sora of yesterday’s tragic event.

“Oh! You’ll never guess what happened last night!” Sora began jovially. “When I went to the mansion, I ran into the other vampires. I guess they saw me upset or something, but they didn’t hide or ignore me. They actually listened to me explain what happened! And get this, they’ve seen boo-loons before with the humans. Turns out it’s a toy, not a ghost! Children carry them around to amuse themselves. They uhh… well,” he scratched the side of his cheek looking thoughtful, “they stayed up with me until I felt better. Baron rubbed my back. It was weird.”

The vampires acting this way out of nowhere _was_ weird, but Riku wasn’t going to press on the odd change in demeanor. Sora was back and happy which put him at ease.

Sora’s happy smile slipped into something more impish. “Was that supposed to be some kind of prank or something? _Huuuuhhh_?” He elbowed Riku in the ribs. “You really had me going. But you better watch out, I’ll be the one to get you next time.”

“You can try.” Riku retorted, throwing an arm around Sora’s neck and watched him struggle a little under his hold. He let Sora push him away with a chuckle. “Come on. We’ve got to finish cleaning the square before we start decorating.”

“Right.” Sora started, trying to be as casual as possible, “By the way, did you decide on coming? We’re putting in all this work, it’d be too bad if you didn’t see it all come together for the party y’know?”

Riku hummed noncommittally, inwardly happy at Sora’s poorly hidden wishful expression. “I guess that’s true. If the square looks good enough, we’ll see.”

They left for the square in high spirits, even the extra work of cleaning didn’t get them down. Sora finished sweeping away dead leaves while Riku polished the fountain’s statue. Quickly after the square was in presentable condition they started decorating. When Riku finished setting up the tables he loudly sighed catching Sora trying to call a scraggly looking black cat down from the fence.

“Come on Sora, I’m doing all the work here!” He gripped.

“Wha?!” Sora turned away from the cat, scratching his nose looking guilty at being caught. He pointed to the lamp posts. “Not true! See, I hung up the lights.”

The twinkly lights were indeed hung up, but haphazardly thrown across the lamps and draped over walls in uneven sloppy arches.

“You tangled them up after I spent all morning straightening them out!” 

“Allright allright, nagpire. I’ll go fix them.” Sora grumbled.

Riku nodded satisfied and went back to wrapping garland around the lampposts. Some spiderwebs would look really good draping down from the lights too if he can convince a few spiders to lend him their afternoon. His thoughts were interrupted by his name being called by the last monster on earth he wanted to see.

“Riku!” Jack approached holding something behind his back.

Before he could walk too far into the square Riku turned him around and began pushing Jack right out. 

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.”

Jack twisted around, spinning out of Riku’s push with a spindly elegance. “Hear me out. You know what these are, right?” He held up a bouquet of flowers neatly wrapped in paper and tied with a blue silk ribbon. “They’re flowers!! Humans love receiving them as a gesture of affection. Yesterday was a bit of a mistake because I didn’t do enough research but I made sure to get it right this time.”

Riku cupped his hands in front of his nose, inhaled a slow, deep, long suffering breath, and exhaled it in a puff. He brought his hands down and spoke slowly without inflection, using every ounce of willpower to keep his emotions in check. "Jack. Sora isn’t human. What is a _vampire_ supposed to do with flowers?”

Using the hand he held the bouquet in, Jack scratched his skull with a finger. “He’ll think they’re pretty of course. The petals are soft and umm, nice to smell.”

“Why would he want something that’s just, _pretty_?” Riku asked with a groan.

Just then the staticy sound of the office’s speaker turned on with Sally’s assistant, The Harlequin's voice screeching for Behemoth to come to the office to pick something up. The sudden noise startled the two causing Jack to drop the flowers and Riku impulsively caught the bunch before they hit the ground.

Riku looked around quickly for a place to chuck the flowers, ridding himself of the nuisance, but of course Sora approached them at just the wrong time.

“Man that thing’s loud.” He complained while rubbing his ears. “Hi Jack! Hey Riku, where did you put the small hooks, I ran out.”

“Sora! Riku has something for you! Come over here, come, come!” Jack barked over Sora’s question and pushed him towards Riku, bumping the two vampires together. The skeleton looked back and forth between them, eagerly waiting for the show to start. Any second now, the big reveal, true feelings confessed, his friend’s enamoured faces! Hauntingly ever after!

Sora’s chest fluttered a little at the close proximity and Riku’s open expression looking down at him. He coughed into his hand before backing up a step or two. “U-um. What is it?”

Riku stood stiffly, a little caught up in the warmth that was just pressed against him and Sora’s bashful face. Jack walked behind Riku and knocked his elbow so the flowers were tipped to Sora. Realizing what he had done, Riku shot a quick glare at him. All this pushing and shoving around, they weren’t puppets to be handled and he wondered if Jack was doing this with their best interests in mind, or if he just wanted to be entertained. 

“What are these?” Sora asked, taking the bouquet from Riku looking confused.

Riku sighed disgruntled by the whole event. It was too late to back down now, the flowers were already in Sora’s hands, but, at least they didn’t pose a threat. He was familiar enough with flowers. The worst that could happen is Sora would grow bored of them and forget them somewhere. “I… think they’re, daisies?” He admitted, feeling cross at Jack’s overly pleased face.

“Huh. They’re so weird, and living. Thanks I guess?” Sora turned the flowers over and gave them an experimental shake. Other than losing a petal or two nothing really seemed to happen. “I’m just supposed to look at them, right?”

It was painfully obvious Sora was trying to be nice about the gift, but didn’t understand its purpose. He couldn’t eat the flowers. They didn’t seem to explode, snap, claw or do anything conventional that could be useful in a prank or game. They just sat there, bunched up and motionless.

The three were so caught up in figuring out what to do or say next that no one noticed the Behemoth lumbering behind them, eyes glazed over in his usual stupor. With single mindedness to get to the mayor’s office he accidentally knocked past Sora, sending the boy stumbling over face first into the flowers.

“Sora!”

“Are you okay?”

Sora lifted his pollen covered face and wiggled his nose. “I’m fine, it was an acciden- accidah- ahH- AA-ACHOO!!!”

The sneeze was so powerful most of the flowers exploded in a shower of petals around them. “ACHOOOO!!!” Sora’s face turned splotchy, his eyes watery and cheeks breaking out into a rash.

“Ohhh, are you allergic?” Jack asked with the nerve to look guilty. “That’s an unfortunate turn of events…”

Riku snatched the flowers out of Sora’s hands and threw them to the ground shooting the skeleton a scathing look.

And that was the end of the flowers.

Finally it was the night of the festival. After Riku dropped Sora off at the mansion, the younger vampire insisted he would be fine if he washed the pollen off and rested for a while. He didn’t seem upset, just embarrassed that Riku had to witness him with swollen eyes and a dribbly nose. Riku ended up finishing the square on his own, leaving little to do tonight before the party. He dutifully waited for Sora at the boneyard not really feeling in the festive mood. Sure enough, Sora came.

“Hey.” He plopped down, knocking their knees together as he folded his legs to sit criss cross applesauce. “What’s got you looking so glum” he asked leaning forward, “you look gloomier than the melting man in July.”

Riku shrugged, looking at his friend before turning away. “You alright? Your eyes are still a little puffy.”

“This is nothing. Didn't know I was allergic to flowers either, go figure." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, careful not to scratch anything with his claws. “I mean, it _was_ an accident, right?”

“Of course.” Riku answered quickly.

“Then don’t worry about it!”

Sora seemed, jittery. He was normally full of energy but right now there was a bounce in his knee and his fingers twitched and drummed on his legs. A bit of his fang held down his bottom lip as if he were physically holding back on a secret. 

"Something happen with the vampires again?" Riku guessed.

"You’ll never believe it!" Sora practically bursted as he vibrated with happy energy. "Last night the vampires got me a bigger coffin without even telling me! For the first time in I don't know when I woke up without a sore neck! It's got this red velvety lining too, it’s super comfortable and just my size!" 

Again with the out of nowhere niceness. As pleased as Riku was that Sora returned to him happy, this level of sudden change fed his suspicion. Sora couldn’t possibly get them something they couldn’t obtain themselves… did they want his friend to owe them?

"You think they're up to something?" 

“I don’t know. Why, do you think they are?” Sora asked, losing a bit of his bounce. 

Looking for ulterior motives or hidden meanings didn’t come naturally to him, and even though the vampires were often dismissive, they were the closest thing he had as family. For two nights in a row they surprised him with thoughtful gestures… maybe there was something sinister behind this sudden change… why else would they be nice to someone like him...

A clawed hand landed heavily on his head and ruffled his hair.

“Stop making that face, I was just thinking out loud. It’s probably nothing.”

“Hmph. You’re the one who brought it up.” Sora batted his hand away with a huff.

Sora took Riku’s hand and hoisted him up to stand. “Let’s get going. You finished decorating yesterday right? We just have to put up the tables, set up a trash area, and then we can kick off the festival.”

Riku groaned but didn’t disagree. They made their way to the square one more time and met Mayor who stuffed the mayormobile to bursting with food, snacks and drink. Sora was able to stuff his mouth a few times, unable to resist the allure of bon bons and cupcakes all infused with blood for the vampires so they could eat as much as they’d like. He was promptly scolded by Mayor but grinned unrepentant, claiming it was just a quality check which was part of his job. Riku got caught eyeing some nightmare meringue and punch and tried to brush off Sora’s sparkly hopeful eyes. It was getting down to the wire now but he was still unsure if he wanted to stick around when things really started to kick off and get crowded. Maybe he could just keep the outskirts of the party, lurk in some dark secluded corner close enough to be considered part of the party but far enough where he wouldn’t be forced into the activities. Surely Sora would be satisfied with at least that.

Once they were finally done Sally stepped out of the office to go over the checklist one last time with Riku. She turned around admiring the festive area and smiled kindly.

“Oh, everything looks perfect. Thank you for taking the time to help set this up, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Riku nodded, rubbing the back of his neck looking pleased. “We rushed to get it all together in the end but, somehow we managed.”

He unconsciously scanned the square until his eyes magnetically landed on Sora who was ushering in the band. The vampire was greeting everyone and even knelt down to say hi to the odd little man who made himself at home inside the base. As if sensing Riku’s eyes on him, he swiveled his head around until their eyes connected and gave him a thumbs up with a cheery grin.

Sally watched the silent exchange between the two vampires, the wordless conversation they seemed to be having and fond looks they not-so-secretly kept shooting at each other. It made her happy to see them like this, but a guilty sigh escaped her before she spoke up. “Listen, Riku, about Jack,” she winced at the sour look Riku failed to hide at the mention of Jack’s name, “I caught him trying to sneak something out of the house this morning and when I asked him about it, he told me about how he’s been trying to help you, umm, woo Sora? But from the sound of it things haven’t been going as he hoped.”

Placing his hand on his face Riku groaned in embarrassment. He didn’t want to talk about this, but it was _Jack_ and anything seemingly harmless seemed to end up a disaster when it came to him. “What did he try this time…” He gritted out through clenched fangs.

Sally held up her clipboard and flipped over papers until she uncliped a pink card from the back and handed it over to Riku. The card was an unsightly rose pink with a heart printed in the center. If you could even call it a heart. There was no blood, none of the veins were drawn and its shape was all wrong. When he opened it a sprinkle of glitter spilled out and the words inside made him cringe more than the heart.

To: Sora

~Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

You are so Cute, will you be my Boo?~

Love, Riku

Was it _supposed_ to be a threat or just plain insulting? Either way it wouldn’t go over well and therefore needed to be disposed of right away. Preferably by way of fire. He would stick it in a lantern so there wouldn’t be any evidence left behind.

“Thank goodness I took it from him in time.”

Riku crumpled the card into a ball. “Yeah, no kidding.” He said scathingly.

She gave him another guilty, shoulders slumping as if she were the perpetrator of the offense. “Umm, I know this is a lot to ask but, can you please forgive Jack? I-I know it may seem difficult to believe but, he cares about the people in the town a great deal and he really only had your best interest in mind. He told me about his trip to Valen-dies Town and all he was trying to do. He just, well, he gets carried away. I had a long talk a-and I’m sure he’ll stop now.”

Hearing Sally’s voice become stuttery and contrite abated his frustration just a little. At least enough to drop the subject and focus on the task at hand. The apology would have been better if it came from Jack but, actually, no. The less he interacted with Jack the better. Sally had only ever been kind and helpful to him so he could at least try to put the past events behind him, for her sake. He nodded to Sally who looked thoroughly relieved and squeezed his shoulder tenderly in thanks.

“IS THAT _SCORPION SOUP_??” A nasally voice screeched nearly making Sally and Riku leap in the air. When they looked around they found a trio of kids on top of the snack table. One of them is licking frosting off the cookies, another has their face dunked in the punch. “Just pour it in my mouth!” The one dressed as a devil said and laid down as the little witch raised a sloshing bowl about her size above her head.

Sora, Sally and Riku all ran over to the table in a flash to settle down the chaos.

“Hey knock it off!!!” Sora yanked the bowl out of Shock’s grubby little hands and elbowed Lock off the table. “There are live scorpions in here don’t you know you’re supposed to use a spoon?”

Every monster in town knew to eat scorpion soup you needed to use a spoon to knock them out first, but the soup was so good some poor soul always forgot and ended up with a swollen tongue or face because the unhappy creatures stung on the way down. The three trick or treaters didn’t seem to care for the warning though and got huffy at their fun being stopped.

“Oh _yeah?_ Well who put you in charge?” Lock leaped up from the ground and shouted indignantly.

“Yeah! Who put you in charge?” Barrel parroted dumbly after pulling a lollipop from out of his mouth and smacking his sticky lips.

“I did.” Sally stood in the midst of them with her hands on her hips, her large owlish eyes narrowed in a disapproving squint. “And if you three can’t behave properly we can have you enjoy the party wrapped around the hanging tree like last year.”

Two of the trick or treaters whined and stomped their feet. 

“But the splinters!” Said Lock. 

“And the chafing!!” Said Shock.

“I didn’t think it was that bad.” Mentioned Barrel who proceeded to get smacked on the back of his head by his companions.

“Sora,” Sally said arily, “get the rope.”

“Alright alright!! We’ll use the stupid spoons.” Shock backpealed realizing Sally was completely serious. 

“Good. I’ll go ask Mayor where they are. Don’t cause _too_ much trouble. Alright? A little mischief is okay but we're here to enjoy the party.”

Sally left leaving the children and the vampires in an awkward standoff of sorts. Sora's eyes wandered around in every direction, looking at the lamps, the fountain, the slow trickle of monsters coming in and greeting each other with snarls and hisses, anything to avoid making eye contact with the children. They were oblivious to his discomfort though. The three were too busy observing Riku. Almost like they were sizing him up for a fight.

“Welp you’re good with kids so I’ll just go help out with-” Sora said in a rushed breath, turning to soldier away. 

Before he could get too far Riku grabbed him by the crook of the arm with his free claw and tugged him back. “Oh no, you watch them. You’re friends with the trick or treaters aren’t you?”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Sora grumbled crossing his arms. “We are not friends.”

“Yeah!” Shock shouted and rudely pointed at Sora. “There’s no way we’d be friends with a fuddy duddy like Sora.”

“Oh yeah? Well I don’t want to be friends with a squirmy little larva like you either!” Sora shouted back, sinking down to their level.

“Stick-in-the-Mud!”

“Ankle Biter!!”

“PORCUPIRE!!!”

“MISCREANT!!”

That last one had Riku blink, slightly impressed by Sora’s range in vocabulary.

Barrel and Lock reared their legs back to kick Sora’s shins but Riku hoisted them up by their collars before they could make impact. They wiggled in his grip and shouting things like having slug breath, being uglier than a bat’s wing, and a few other colorful things that made the vampires briefly wonder where they learned such crude language. Oogie probably.

Shock noticed something slip out of Riku’s hand as he grabbed her two friends. While he was distracted she swiped the crumpled paper from the ground, opened it up and squawked at what she read.

“Hey give that here!!” Riku practically threw the two boys and lunged to snatch the card from Shock but the little girl twirled out of his reach. It quickly devolved into a game of keep away. Lock dashed between his legs, Shock spun in tight circles, and Barrel hopped around giggling as Riku did his best to keep up with the energized kids and end their game.

Sora took advantage of being momentarily forgotten and plucked the letter out of Barrel’s hands as the pallid boy ducked out of Riku’s grab and right into his reach. “What’s all the fuss about?” He turned the card over seeing his name was on the front and opened the card, curious to see what the big deal was.

“Sora wait!! You were never supposed to see that card. I meant to throw it away!” Riku grabbed the card out of Sora’s hands and crumpled it back up praying he didn't see too much, but by the way Sora swallowed a few times, stiff as a statue, it wasn't very promising. He saw the way the jagged mouth of Sora’s mask dipped into a severe frown and gave him a little jostle by the shoulders to bring him out of his head. "It's not what you think!!!" He rushed out imploringly. "Jack wrote it for me! I mean- in my place, I didn't write this!!"

“Sora is _cu_ -te, Sora is _cu_ -te, Sora is _cu_ -te~” The three singsonged as they skipped around in a circle.

“ ** _KNOCK IT OFF_**.” Riku hissed, his disposition switching causing his eyes to burn a furious red and face contorting into something monstrous and terrifying.

The three eeped at the sight and leaped into the fountain, properly scared to silence.

“You… think I’m cute?” Sora said stiffly.

“What? No!! I would never, I think you’re hideous!! Terrifying! I’m trying to tell you, Jack wrote that not me!”

Sora shoved Riku’s chest putting some distance between them. “Well then why don’t you say what’s really on your mind? Hm??” he barked with another shove, “Just be honest, the boo-loon, the flowers, the card, they were all just ways to say I’m not scary, weren’t they?? I’m not good enough or push me away? Well, the message came through loud and clear! I should _never_ have helped you in the first place, so stay away from me!!” 

Because If he never met Riku, then he wouldn’t be this heartbroken at hearing those words come from him. Sure being pushed away from the vampires hurt, but Riku was his best friend. Riku wanted him around. They had fun playing games and pranking together. The thought of being pushed away by him of all monsters felt like he was being torn to shreds. Would it hurt as much if he pushed away first this time? 

But, Riku wasn’t making the expression of someone who was bored or frustrated by him. He looked like Sora was the one hurting him, not the other way around.

Some of the monsters shifted around uneasily, whispering between themselves and gawking at the dramatics. The draw of attention made Sora blush shamefully as he realized what he just said out loud. He bolted out before he caused a bigger scene, ignoring the shouts of his name and even yanked his arm out of the Wolfman’s paw when the large monster caught hold of him to ask what was wrong. 

He scrambled through the graveyard trying to run away from his actions and its consequences. Deep down he knew Riku wouldn’t write something like that or do anything as cruel as play around with his insecurities, but in a single moment of doubt he lashed out. Everyone around him was so hot and cold sometimes, it was hard to make sense of it all. He couldn’t get the devastated look on Riku’s face as he shouted at him out of his head and it filled his veins with ice. When he heard Riku’s footsteps running behind him, the flap of his cape as he chased him on foot, he used a small gravity spell on the tall obelisk tombstones around them. Pillars of horses and wailing figures crashed around them and it was enough to slip away.

After the dust settled Riku continued to search for him, but when it was made apparent Sora didn’t want to be found, he spent the rest of the night in his tree. He heard the whoops and chattering of the townspeople and a bit of the music as it floated through the air, but it only made him more miserable. Sora obviously wanted some space and, he would respect that. He closed his wings tightly around himself in an attempt to block everything out but his mind whired with thoughts of where his friend was, would he be alright, and how could he fix this before succumbing to a fitful sleep.

\---

Riku woke up to four black bats flapping angrily around him. Despite having never met them, from their snooty faces and pompous fluttering, he recognized them as the vampires Sora spoke of many times. They squeaked and chirped insessintly as if he could understand, but when Riku elected to ignore them and cover himself up with his wings, the largest bat bit his ear and boldly yanked him to the ground. In a puff of smoke they resumed their larger forms where they could speak properly.

“VHY ARE YOU MAKING OUR SORA SAD?” The Vampire Prince hissed holding on to Riku’s ear with cold knobby fingers. “VER IS HE?? IS HE HERE??”

Riku tore himself away from the Prince and looked around to see the other three vampires looking just as upset. “It was a misunderstanding and he’s not here, let go!” He growled defensively. “Since when did you care about him being here, you’ve never had any consideration about his feelings before.” The number of times he had to cheer Sora up from being neglected was more than a few, and now the root of the problem was right in front of him with the presumptuousness to shamelessly accuse him. 

The Count stepped forward, the largest of the four vampires, and gave Riku a few intimidating pokes in the chest as he spoke with a grim frown. “He comes home less and less, and ve begin to vorry. Tvwo nights in a row he is sad. Ve cheer him up! Last night he didn’t come home at all. He never stays avay for the night he alvays comes home to sleep in his coffin no matter vat! It is ver a proper vampire sleeps!” 

“He didn’t go back to the mansion last night?” Riku asked worriedly. Maybe he should have tried harder to catch him… what if Sora left? He wouldn’t leave his friends behind there’s no way he would skip town...

“I can track him by scent.” The Vampire Baron sniffed haughtily before his voice took on a weak sour tone, “His smell is just strongest here, but I vill find him there is no doubt.”

“That doesn’t mean he didn’t leave the town.” Riku said in a rush. “I can cover more ground faster, leave finding him to me. I’ll check his favorite spots. Maybe he’s visiting Mayor or practicing flying in the forest.”

The Lord grabbed Riku by the cape and pulled him back before he could run off. “How dare you give us orders!” he snapped pretentiously, “Ve vill find him but first you still need to tell us vhy he is being upset! Then ve can properly console him back at the mansion and he vill be happy again and make us bon bons and come home at a proper hour to sleep and say good morning to us before ve leave.”

“What on earth are you going on about?” Riku said as he yanked his cape out of the Lord’s hands feeling annoyed at how grabby they turned out to be.

The other vampires quieted down respectfully when the Prince spoke up, “It took us a vhile to realize, too long probably, but we mistreated him vith our negligence. But ve are making amends. Now, tell us vhy there haz been a change in our Sora’s demeanor.”

Though he didn’t want to explain what happened, he couldn’t exactly ignore a demand from royalty; even if they came from different species he still had to respect the Prince. He bit the words out as if he were chewing on something undesirable, keeping the details to a minimum about how he felt and some of their more private conversations. After he finished explaining, much to his irritation, the vampires simply shook their heads affectionately at Jack’s hijinks.

“Oh that Jack,” The Count drawled like a doting parent, “alvays causing mischief vherever he goes. That rascal.”

“Can I just go look for him now? You can sort out whatever you need to after I find and talk to him.” Riku gritted out.

All the vampires seemed to be on the same wavelength as they looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing on something that made Riku narrow his eyes in suspicion. The Baron and Count poofed into bats and flew away in two different directions and the Prince and Lord each took one of Riku’s arms and placed their hands in the crook of his elbows as they towed him in a little walk around the boneyard.

“Listen, Riku,” The Prince began casually, as if they were lifelong friends chatting about the weather, “despite what happened the past vew days, our Sora feels very strongly about you.” He finished with a patronizing pat on Riku’s arm.

“He’s, just my friend.” Riku insisted, unsuccessfully trying to wiggle out of their tight grip. The vampires raised their eyebrows and pinned him with a judgemental look that made him feel way too vulnerable for his liking. “Even if I did, I know for a fact he doesn't like me the way I like him, which is fine. I’m happy with the way things are. Or... were.”

The Vampire Lord looked up at the sky as if it personally exhausted him. “Ohhhhh he likes you. There iz no doubt.” He groaned, “You should be honored your feelings are mutual. When he is home it’s nothing but Riku Riku Riku, Riku this and Riku that. Riku wore his hair up today. I vent to the village with Riku to scare people. Bevor he followed us around and ve couldn’t shake him off, now ve ‘ave to vait for him to come home just to be sure he’s vell.”

Riku felt a terrifying chill as the Lord and Prince both turned their head in unison so slowly, the world seemed slowed down and to skew with the murderous glint in their sunken eyes. 

“But iv you hurt our Sora vonce more, ve’ll make sure you never ‘ave to look for terror for your tonics again. Because you’ll ‘ave plenty ov your own to use as ingredient. Do you understand?” The Lord finished his threat with a throaty venomous hiss that shot right down Riku’s spine. It was one part impressive and two parts terrifying. He’d have to learn that one later. 

“Y-yes Sir. I mean, no Sir. I won't hurt him.”

The Prince nodded, the mood instantly lifting allowing Riku to breathe freely again. 

“Good. Now then. Do you know how to dance like a proper vampire?” The Prince said with a regal toss of his cape.

“What?”

\---

“Come on guys, stop kicking that’s just plain rude! Quit it!”

Sora tumbled through the mausoleum, an avalanche of sounds and flailing limbs as he gracelessly emerged through the cold stone doors. He stumbled on some loose bricks before straightening up with a moody scowl. Waking up by being grabbed by the Baron and pulled off one of the hard, unyielding benches of the town hall was not a pleasant way to start what would probably be a terrible day. Then he was stuffed into a formal jacket he’d never seen before, nearly choked into a bow tie, and had his hair pulled and yanked in an attempt to tame it souring his already dreary mood. He spun around and threw a glare into the darkness of the mausoleum before its doors abruptly slammed shut which didn’t seem to phase him. He simply rubbed his behind looking cross for a second before remembering where he was brought in the first place.

The boneyard. The _boneyard_! But looking around, it looked so different. The dead leaves were swept away, the ground picked clean of weeds, candles lined the stony walls making the area glow warmly, and in the center stood Riku, prim and proper and fidgeting with his cufflinks looking adorably nervous.

Sora walked over to Riku stringing together dozens of words and variations of the same sentence in his head, but they all died in his throat as he felt Riku’s claw ruffle his hair to free the matted down spikes.

“Hey.” Riku began, “You look,” _Handsome. Frightening._ “tired.”

Riku grunted a little as Sora rushed forward to wrap his arms around his chest, locking his hands together by the wrists as if afraid he would be pushed away.

Sora squeezed his face into Riku's cloak. “About what I said… last night," his voice coming out muffled but he didn’t have the heart to back away. Not yet. Not until Riku knew how sincerely sorry he felt. "I didn’t mean it. I guess I got all panicked and didn’t think. I didn’t mean to run away like that. I’m really sorry.”

“You were having a bad night, it happens.” 

Sora shook his head and took a couple of steps back to wipe his face dry with his sleeves. All the guilt he felt was cleansed away with every breath of laughter they shared and affection for the other vampire took its place in his chest.

“Yeah. Just one of those nights.” He said before pinching his mouth and tipping his head back to release a loud groan at the sky. “Except it was during the festival!! Awwww stakes and crosses! We worked so hard to set it up, everything was going great, and I bailed on you at the last second!! Now we have to wait another three hundred sixty four days until the next half way festival! Oh, or I guess one hundred and eighty something days until actual Halloween… but that’s still _forever_.”

Sora’s body doubled forward as he collapsed from disappointment and Riku reflexively caught him by his shoulders to straighten him up.

“About that,” Riku began looking nervous all over again, “some of the townspeople took it upon themselves to have a smaller festival here, tonight.”

“Really?” Sora gasped, his eye downright sparkling and his mask looking hopeful.

Riku chuckled, “I mean, didn’t you notice?”

Sora looked to where Riku gestured with a tip of his head. A little ways down Jack, Sally and the zombie band were dressed up looking as if they were waiting for some kind of cue. 

Jack waved at the two as enthusiastic as ever. His energy was tamed a little as Sally tapped him on the shoulder and gestured to the band. The skeleton straightened his back and lifted his arms, fingers pinching a long thin bone baton in one hand, and began conducting with smooth arches and quick flicks. The accordion, base, and saxophone players all began a soft little waltz that for once wasn’t bleak, but rather bouncy like a heartbeat. He looked at Riku who gave him an approving nod. It seemed to be all the encouragement he needed as he waved his free hand and signaled the Zero and ghosts to come in. They flew around the boneyard in graceful spooky circles, oohing along with the song.

“This can’t be real.” Sora said looking awestruck. “You planned this? All in one night?”

Riku shook his head. “The vampires did it actually, they barged in here and set this all up. I wouldn’t believe they could do all this so fast unless I saw it but,”

The vampire brothers were relentless. They dragged Jack in and gave him a surprisingly stern lecture despite their hero worship of him, and even managed to decorate the place all in a few short hours. Riku felt like he was witnessing something, otherworldly, with how tunnel visioned until they were about achieving their goal.

“This town seems to be full of meddlers.” Riku said with an air of amusement about him.

Sora blushed and forced his eyes to trail after one of the ghosts holding an impressively long ooh. “Yeah well…” He trailed off.

 _I’m glad it is though._ Riku thought.

With a bracing intake of breath to steel his nerves, Riku held out his hand and dipped into a low playful bow. “May I have this dance?”

Sora rolled his eye but his mask couldn’t conceal its genuinely happy smile as he accepted the offer. The younger vampire took Riku by the hand, placed his other high on Riku’s waist, and began to lead him around the boneyard.

For the most part Riku kept his eye on their feet doing his best to keep up with the footwork. A quick three hour lesson from the bossy Prince was definitely not enough to boost his confidence. The Prince barked orders and chuffed criticisms which did little more than help him graduate from tripping over his own feet to an awkward shuffle of a dance. He still lost count and stumbled every now and then, wincing when he stepped on Sora’s toes, but at least Sora didn’t get frustrated and took it all in stride, muttering pieces of advice as they found their pace. “One-two-three, one-two-three, elbows up-two-three.” “When I go out you go in.” “Stop frowning so hard you’re gonna set your toes on fire staring at them like that.” They spun around gravestones and Sora even dipped Riku down in a fluid motion that made the taller vampire blink owlishly as he held him in the unexpected move. 

“Where’d you learn to dance like this?” Riku asked, sounding a little breathless when Sora pulled him up and they held each other a little closer than before.

“A proper vampire must know how to vatlz.” Sora spoke imitating the indignant tone of the vampires before grinning. “There’s a huge ballroom in the mansion and we used to have lessons when I first came to town. I like dancing, I think it’s really fun.”

“That’s not surprising.” Riku hmmed.

Sora had to jump a little to get his arm over Riku’s head and with the aid of his glide ability he slowed down his descent giving him time to twirl the other vampire. “What do you mean?” He asked when he landed silently back on the ground.

“You’re just always moving, always bouncing around. It makes sense that you’d be good at this.”

“I mean, they really drilled it into me!” Sora exclaimed with a weary look in his eye, his mind lost in a spinning ballroom for a moment, “Each of them have a dance they like best, waltz, tango, foxtrot, but the worst was the Viennese Waltz. I did so much spinning I thought I’d never stop feeling dizzy, they were relentless." He shook away his far off gaze and returned to the present. "But after the dance lessons were the flying lessons and the transformation ones, how to sneak up on people and all that. I couldn’t really pick up anything else and it was pretty obvious I couldn’t be a proper vampire like them, so the lessons stopped.” He finished with a shrug.

Riku looked up at the casual tone in Sora’s voice. He didn’t even sound defeated, but rather, stated the last part as a fact. He squeezed his hand and shoulder a little tighter as he spoke, physically compelling Sora to believe him. “You don’t have to change or fix yourself Sora. I should have realized that sooner.”

Sora scrunched his face. “But, vampires are supposed to be scary.” He recited stubbornly, mechanically, like it was drilled into him thousands of times. 

“You _are_ scary. You’re scary in your own Sora way, just like the vampires are scary in their way.” Riku said looking at Sora with an open, fond expression. “I’m not sure if I’m describing it right but, somehow you make being scared, fun. With you, screams are mixed with laughter, and instead of pushing monsters or people away it ends up drawing them to you. Yeah I’ve never known a vampire who couldn’t fly, but I’ve also never known a vampire who can make connections to others as naturally as you do. Is that really so bad?”

They continued to dance silently as Sora chewed on Riku’s words. He had a point. Whenever he scared someone, the person usually ended up laughing afterwards instead of fainting or crying. Scaring and making friends didn’t have to be exclusive he supposed. He liked making friends as much as being a terrifying creature of the night. Maybe even a little more sometimes. And for the first time in he couldn't remember when, he felt like that was okay. As the realization dawned on him, a binding pressure that had wrapped itself around his chest was released and he was finally able to breathe again.

“Sora?”

He ducked his head down and pressed his forehead to Riku’s cravat, effectively hiding his face as he internally battled the unnamed fluttering feeling that never really went away while Riku was around. It was stronger than ever and made it too risky to talk now. He might say something embarrassing and completely honest like ‘ _I think really really like you,’_ so they simply danced.

As they danced everything around them seemed to melt away into a hazy background except for them and the music. Their movements slowed down into a gentle side to side sway as they held each other in a comfortable embrace. When Sora opened his eye, not realizing he had closed it, he saw Riku glowing in the moonlight, eye a rosy pink as he stared down at him. It was a disposition he’d never seen before, and there was something about the content smile, the soft look and secure arms cradling him as if he were something precious that made him feel warm and fuzzy. Maybe a little lightheaded with happiness.

“U-umm… I-” Sora looked down feeling bashful before letting out a loud yelp,

Riku jerked violently forward as Sora threw his arms around his neck and practically hung off him, wings flipping and flapping in panic. “H-hey! Gahhck- Sora loosen up will you, what’s wrong??” Riku put a hand underneath Sora’s arm so he could loosen his grip and get a breath in. When he looked around to see what got the boy so riled up he finally noticed they were floating high in the air well above the tops of the trees.

“S-sorry!!” He said flustered and tightened his hold around Sora. “I didn’t realize I brought us up here!!”

Sora shook with laughter as he clung to Riku, the two of them suspended in the air still locked in their spin like two binary stars. Whatever this feeling was, it was able to sweep him off his feet without him even noticing. He liked it. He liked it a whole lot. In fact- “I love you so much!!” He proclaimed and in a moment of pure elation, he pulled his arms down and pecked Riku on the lips. Nothing could compare or make his heart soar higher than the tightening of Riku’s arms around his waist and the press of lips back on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking through to the end!!  
> Share your thoughts if you'd like!  
> You can also find me on twitter @kahazel_


End file.
